How to treat Refugees as Human Beings

It’s Saturday morning at the All Saints Anglican Cathedral complex in central Cairo. Preparations are being made for today’s job fair. But it’s a job fair with a difference. All the clients are refugees. John Holdsworth reports.

The event is organised by Refuge Egypt, the Anglican Church’s sector ministry dealing with refugees, in cooperation with other partners. It’s called the Livelihoods Project and today they hope to provide livelihoods – with all that that entails – for around 100 people.

The first stage of the process is profiling. Clients are given an hour-long interview to discover their story, their skill set, work they’re already qualified for, and work they might hope to get. The next stage is training. This might involve learning some basic skills or help with the language.

The interview doesn’t concentrate narrowly on employment. Refuge Egypt has three medical clinics and also runs an assistance service. Emergency food packages and clothing are available. Care managers can be assigned to give longer-term help and mentoring. The aim is to integrate people into Egyptian society as quickly and successfully as possible. There are no refugee camps in Egypt. Having crossed the border, refugees have to find their own way.

Today’s event brings clients into contact with ten companies. As in many countries, there are restrictions on where refugees can work initially. Today’s firms include caterers, hospitality providers, bakeries and cleaning firms - and the Government. People can also find work as drivers, babysitters/nannies or in care for elderly people.

Raid arrived from Khartoum. His father was dead. The cleaning job he landed enabled him to bring his mother to Egypt, rent a flat and provide for his family. All that is possible in Cairo for £140 per month.

38-year-old Regina also came from Sudan after her husband was killed in the fighting. She has six children. Mama Mandera, who heads up the domestic service employment part of Refuge Egypt, tells me how she had recently been in touch with Regina who is settled in a domestic service job.

Waffa, a former Sudanese college student, demonstrated a gift for craft work and now has a sustainable job working with an artisan woodcraft outfit, some of whose work is for sale in the cathedral shop. The project maintains contact for as long as is needed. The Anglican churches in the city all have special services for Sudanese people and these are a great support, offering spiritual solace and a means of socialising and sharing with others in the same situation.