Introduction
There is an increase in the flow of refugees in the camps of North Africa and its environment, mainly due to political tension. This has resulted in global inequalities, the shrinking of asylum space, and a decrease in the sharing of responsibilities among displaced communities and other key players (Hetaba et al., 2020). Displaced communities often find themselves in challenging circumstances, unable to return to their country of origin. Such refugees are faced with immediate, short- and long-term uncertainty (Hetaba et al., 2020).
Refugees living in North Africa and its surrounding environment employ a combination of techniques to overcome challenges, including accessing better education, securing better jobs, joining groups and communities, learning the host country’s language and culture, utilizing savings, liquidating assets, resorting to aid, receiving remittances, and sharing resources among themselves.
Refugees in North Africa and its Environment
Displacement has surged in North Africa and its environment in 2021. The UNHCR registered 128,000 refugees in the region, including an additional 15,800 individuals seeking international protection in North Africa (UNHCR, 2021). Amidst all these, the UNHCR has maintained and continued its support for the 5.7 million Syrian families, including 140,000 children from Turkey, Lebanon, and Jordan (UNHCR, 2021). Approximately 45,000 men and women received parental support, and over 132,000 children were enrolled in structured psychosocial support and childcare programs (UNHCR, 2021). These are staggering statistics by any standards, showing just how normalized the issue has become.
The Iraqi refugee crisis can be described as a combined product of decades of violence and conflict in Iraq. These escalations of violence and conflict surged in 2014 when the Islamic State organized and pioneered attacks in the northern parts of Iraq (UNHCR, 2021). The consequence of the action of the Islamic State was not only devastating to the growth of the country’s infrastructure but also saw the flight of millions of families from their homes (Le Billon, 2021). The Iraqi and other refugee families in Egypt and the neighboring countries have been allowed access to healthcare facilities since 2014, when the government of Egypt decided to open its borders to refugees(Fares & Puig-Junoy, 2021). This opportunity is only available to registered refugees, and unregistered refugees face additional hurdles due to their status.
Challenges Facing Refugees and Adaptation Technique
Refugees are turning to general practitioners from their own backgrounds who are deployed in their areas to help them access medical care. Refugees prefer to visit general practitioners from the same ethnic group to ensure there are no cultural or language barriers during the visit (UNHCR, 2021). Similarly, refugee women also prefer women doctors, specifically from the same ethnic group.
Cultural beliefs and paradigms are often more critical to refugees than their safety when seeking medical assistance (Lau & Rodgers, 2021). Refugees are unable to access proper healthcare services because of language barriers and limited access to funds that could enable them to get quality healthcare services. Women with sensitive concerns, while visiting health practitioners who do not understand their ethnic dialect, prefer a gender match for the medical professional and the interpreter involved (UNHCR, 2021). In addition, the personnel deployed in such areas are mostly culturally aware and understand the cultural framework within which they are to operate in health services.
Refugees often face adverse and limited educational slots in the countries where they are exiled. This is mainly attributed to the need for the required certification, language barrier, and the education level required for accessing higher education set by the country where they are exiled (Hetaba et al., 2020). To challenge such conditions, refugees often enroll in secondary and tertiary schools, where the regulations are often set in their favor in countries where they have been granted asylum. For example, in Egypt, refugees face hurdles in accessing public schools due to regulations that limit non-nationals (Hetaba et al., 2020). Refugees have turned to private schools as they are free to all.
Housing is a challenge for most refugees in the country where they are exiled. Most of the refugees are stuck with poor and low-paying jobs, making accessing quality housing difficult. Larger families end up sharing a roof with little or no private space (UNHCR, 2021).
There are several ways that refugees overcome housing challenges despite receiving minimal financial and organizational support. Refugee families have opted for alternative options, such as housing aid provided by religious institutions, including churches and mosques. There is also governmental aid where they are settled, which they use to acquire and rent better houses (UNHCR, 2021). However, it is worth noting that this is only possible for a smaller percentage of the refugees. Most refugees live in camps where they receive help primarily from the surrounding communities and the available humanitarian aid.
When refugees relocate to a specific host country, they often experience culture shock. Learning the host country’s culture, maintaining their home culture, enrolling in community groups, and learning the host country’s language are some techniques to overcome this challenge (UNHCR, 2021). Some deeds may be perceived as offensive, whether explicitly or implicitly, even when done with the purest of intentions. There are instances where some animals hold religious significance and are associated with certain symbols in one culture, but are viewed entirely as sources of food in another culture (UNHCR, 2021). Through building local and communal friendships and connections, refugees increase their chances of developing and integrating more quickly into the host culture and way of life.
Securing well-paying jobs in a foreign country is a challenge for many of the refugees. This is mainly attributed to the requirements that must be relevant or equivalent to those of the same country, such as work experience, work permits, level of education, and the required certification for the job openings (Scharrer & Suerbaum, 2022). The situation is even more difficult for the unskilled with little educational background, as they are often underpaid and exploited due to a lack of support and desperation. Ethnographic research conducted in Egypt among Syrian refugees from 2014 to 2015 reveals how these refugees have adapted to integrate into the Egyptian job market (Scharrer & Suerbaum, 2022). Most of these Syrians have secured a position in the university and are currently active in both the informal and formal labor markets.
Refugee workers also join social insurance schemes in the country where they settle to battle uncertainties that might arise in an emergency. Refugee workers in exile countries typically need to prepare for emergencies, including political upheaval, personal injury and illness, and other natural disasters (Mourad & Norman, 2020). In situations where employers close their business, refugee workers are usually caught off guard with little to no savings, making them unable to support themselves and their families. An ethnographic analysis conducted in Cairo metropolitan between 2011 and 2015 highlights the various adaptations these workers have taken to join such social insurance schemes (Scharrer & Suerbaum, 2022). These social insurance schemes offer protection to individuals in such scenarios by providing savings and alternative sources of capital, enabling refugees to adapt after losing their jobs.
Refugees and asylum seekers are actively joining and participating in political activities and advocacy in the country where they are exiled. These activities help them challenge the harsh political atmosphere they encounter in those foreign countries. For example, there has been political mobilization in Egypt to encourage refugees living in Cairo and other major cities in North African countries and some parts of West Asia to be active in politics (Mourad & Norman, 2020). Refugees in such countries have collaborated with local researchers, non-governmental organizations, and, on rare occasions, the local press to channel their grievances concerning political issues. A literature analysis exploring the connection between the emergence of refugee protests and aid delivery in Cairo reveals that such protests are widely motivated by demands for inclusion (Mourad & Norman, 2020). Similarly, the protests aim to improve asylum procedures and policies, clarifying the distinction between refugees and asylum seekers, thereby facilitating the provision of resources.
Raising children in a different environment than they did puts refugee families in challenging parental situations. These children encounter cultural challenges as they experience sudden environmental shifts. Regardless of these conditions, every parent still strives to create the best, most memorable, and conducive environment for their children to grow and thrive.
An ethnography conducted in Syria showed that over 80 percent of the children had been faced with conflict, and a higher percentage had been forced to move out of their origin (UNHCR, 2021). Parents in such situations have managed to adapt by providing for their children the best way they can. To keep the children busy and help them adapt quickly, parents employ a combination of strategies and methods, such as enrolling them in schools, telling them encouraging stories, and supporting their emotional well-being by being available most of the time.
Lack of resources is the major challenge facing women refugees in Egypt, Jordan, Iraq, and Lebanon. An ethnographic study done in 2014 among 135 women showed how women are forced to solely take care of the family in exile countries after the demise of their husbands (Hetaba et al., 2020). For these women, the most challenging tasks are providing basic needs, such as putting food on the table, buying essential household items, and paying rent (Janmyr, 2022).
Women who have children often have to pay their tuition fees during a financial crisis and amid insecurities. Women are joining organizations that support them in overcoming these challenges. Research conducted on 135 women in Cairo found that these women have taken the initiative to work together and support one another in small communal groups (UNHCR, 2021). Such groups also receive assistance from neighboring communities, non-governmental organizations, such as the United Nations, and the host country’s government.
Some organizations, both non-profit and governmental, have been put in place to help refugee women counter discrimination, prejudices, and biases towards them. Refugee women are forced to join and report to such organizations, including the law enforcement bodies nearer to them in case of need. In areas such as Egypt, where there is a massive inflow of exiled individuals, UNHCR is working tirelessly to encourage and build trust with women to report such cases (Janmyr, 2022). Many refugee women and girls experience high levels of gender-based violence and gender inequalities, in combination with other prejudices such as discrimination and biases based on sexual orientation, race, religion, ethnicity, and disability (Kabir & Klugman, 2019; UNHCR, 2021). Such crises magnify, compound, and heighten the intersecting inequalities, causing high risk and hindrance to the growth of women’s economic power.
Women who have had to assume the role of family head following the loss of their partners have employed various coping and self-protection strategies, including seeking employment, using savings or selling assets, accessing aid, obtaining remittances, and sharing resources (Gebreyesus et al., 2019). In addition to these, refugee women utilize religious practices and peer meetings to offer one another hope during their journey to independence. The primary issue in camps located in North Africa and certain parts of Asia is that the spatial organization of the camps, as well as time management, influences the income-earning strategies and social structures (Gebreyesus et al., 2019). The camps only facilitate the administrative tasks of the UNHCR and other aid agencies, but do not make the refugees independent.
Conclusion
This paper examines how refugees in exile countries, particularly in Egypt and its neighboring nations, challenge their conditions of exile. The paper identifies several challenges and demonstrates how refugees overcome them. All the challenges can be grouped into prejudice and discrimination, language barriers, access to healthcare services, raising children, housing problems, and political and cultural differences. Refugees have been found to overcome these challenges through various strategies, including pursuing higher-quality education, obtaining improved employment, participating in groups and communities, learning the language and culture of the host country, using savings or selling assets, seeking assistance, receiving remittances, and sharing resources among themselves.
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