Binoculars Thursday, February 22, 2024
Zuhair Al-Sarraj
manazzeer@yahoo.com
* One of the strange claims that the Egyptian government has been promoting since before the outbreak of war in Sudan, and which has now become a favorite phrase on the lips of many Egyptians, is that the number of Sudanese in Egypt amounts to 5 million Sudanese, while in reality their number does not exceed one and a half million in any case. Of the Ahwal (700,000 who resided non-permanently before the war) and 700,000 (traveled) to Egypt after the war (with their money), while the number of refugees does not exceed 100,000 – according to the official definition of the word refugee and estimates of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees – unless the Egyptian government considers it The Nuba Egyptians are Sudanese citizens, and in this case it can be claimed that the number of Sudanese is 5 million citizens.
* Even if we assume that the number of Sudanese in Egypt is 5 million, Egypt is the primary beneficiary of this. It is sufficient for the head of the Federation of Egyptian Real Estate Companies to admit in a television interview a few weeks ago that he is very happy that the total Sudanese investments in the real estate field amount to ($20 billion). ) is credited with saving the Egyptian real estate sector from recession and collapse, saying that they are preparing to hold a special forum during the month of March in which they will discuss the best ways to benefit from the presence of the Sudanese in Egypt and the huge money they brought with them.
* In addition, the Sudanese spend hundreds of millions of dollars every month on living and reviving Egyptian markets from the sums they brought with them or that their children working abroad send to them. Egypt also benefits from the sums that the United Nations pays it in exchange for hosting the Sudanese, and the sums that Egypt collects in currency. Hard fees from the Sudanese, such as residence fees and others.
* This happened while the Egyptians who were living in Sudan before the outbreak of the war were not paying any fees, and they were entering Sudan without an entry visa, and opening stores without the need for a Sudanese partner or using Sudanese labor, in contrast to the Egyptian laws that obligate Sudanese and foreigners who wish to practice the activity. Commercial and investment projects in Egypt require the presence of an Egyptian partner, the use of Egyptian labor, and the payment of huge amounts of government fees in exchange for allowing them to work in Egypt.
* Another benefit that Egypt gained from the outbreak of war in Sudan is that Sudan has become the first market for Egyptian goods, especially food, due to the closure of most factories in Sudan. It enters without control or accountability, and Egypt earns a lot of hard currency from it, in addition to Egypt obtaining many agricultural products. Sudanese and huge livestock in exchange for small amounts in the local Sudanese currency that they pay to Sudanese merchants.
* Despite all of this, the Sudanese face every day abuse by the Egyptian authorities and restrictions on them to the point that they have become subject to searches for hard currency and are given the choice between confiscating it from them or charging them with illegal trade in hard currency without any legal justification if they refuse to give it up, even if they prove their possession. They have it legally, and the strange thing is that the Egyptian authorities force them to pay residency fees in hard currency, which they are forced to buy from the black market at more than double its official value due to the lack of it in official outlets, then convert it in banks and ATMs into Egyptian currency at the official value and show the transfer receipt to the Ministry of Interior authorities for payment. Residence fees, that is, they force them to deal with the black market and revive the illicit currency trade, then they chase them in the streets and confiscate whatever hard currency they find in their pockets on charges of illicit trade in it, even if they brought it with them from outside Egypt or obtained it legally!
* A painful reality that the Sudanese in Egypt are living and suffering from, despite the huge gains that Egypt is reaping from their presence (as an alternative for foreigners and Gulf Arabs who have refrained from tourism in Egypt since 2011, and stopped completely after Israel’s invasion of Gaza last October), and despite the huge amounts of money in hard currency that they spend. In Egypt, despite the Four Freedoms Agreement, which Egypt canceled with the stroke of a pen after the outbreak of war in Sudan, the Sudanese citizen had to wait long months or pay huge bribes in hard currency to obtain an entry visa to Egypt, then endure hardships and pay exorbitant fees to obtain residency and other arbitrary measures that… It contradicts and contradicts the Four Freedoms Agreement between the two countries, without a single Sudanese official daring to protest to the Egyptian authorities about what Sudanese citizens are exposed to in Egypt!
* The days are coming, and Egypt will one day find itself in need of Sudan, and it will see how the Sudanese will open their hearts, arms, and homes to it and share with it housing, quilts, and food, without any harm, no fees, or an entry smile!
