1. Refugee Education in a Changing Global Climate: The Case of Sudanese in Egypt.
- Author
-
Moro, Leben Nelson
- Abstract
Sudanese refugees in Egypt, who settled primarily in Cairo, encounter serious problems, both legal and economic, in accessing education. Refugees are legally barred from work and from sending their children to government schools and, hence, live in a precarious state. Often, such refugees perceive resettlement in a third country as the only remedy to their predicaments as long as war and massive human rights violations in their country continue. The poor state of the economy has seriously undermined the ability of the Egyptian state to provide social services to its burgeoning population and has negatively influenced its policies and stance towards refugees. This paper critically examines the situation of education for Sudanese refugees forced to operate in the informal economy due to legal and economic reasons. The paper argues that negative consequences of globalization, particularly the rise in numbers of poor people, further marginalized the position of Sudanese refugees in Cairo as the government became less accommodating to foreigners. It argues that more external funding is needed to ameliorate the dismal conditions of refugees and lessen the burden they exert on the host environment. It critiques the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees urban policy that invariably enforces cuts of assistance to refugees in Cairo, while their economic status remains precarious. The paper focuses on grassroots activities with Sudanese communities in Cairo. It is divided into four parts: (1) the introduction defines the main issues to be discussed; (2) gives an account of the status of the Sudanese in Egypt; (3) examines the issue of educational access to Egyptian schools; and (4) concludes the paper. (Contains 16 notes and 35 references.) (BT)
- Published
- 2002