Just a Matter of Time
Laura Cugusi / April 22, 2008
There are many reasons for people to leave Iraq, but few places to go and fewer means of survival. Apart from the 2.5 million who found refuge in Syria and Jordan, the latest estimates from the Egyptian government are that 100,000 Iraqis are “surviving” in Cairo, although this number changes daily as people begin to return home.
“The problem with the Iraqi cases is that they come to Egypt thinking that they will stay for 4 or 5 months, until everything is good enough in Iraq, and then they would go back to their homes,” said a UNHCR employee who asked to remain anonymous. “After a few months, they run out of money and they start to face hard reality: a country with 80 million people and a high rate of unemployment.” There is no clear right to work for refugees in Egypt.
A narrow minority of displaced Iraqis in Egypt decide to use their savings to open a business. Even a small one can help to try to support their families; many do this by selling all their property and possessions in Iraq to meet the monetary requirements of an Egyptian “investor visa”. This ensures their whole family a Temporary Residence Permit of 5 years and provides the right to invest an existing business or open a new one. Many Iraqis who choose this visa do so because they fear the consequence of becoming a refugee: stories from Iraqis who came before them tell about limited job options outside the informal economy.
But in the world of business, it’s not easy to make a profit—for locals or foreigners. “Last month 149 Iraqi closed their businesses and went back to Iraq because they finished their money,” claims a UNHCR employee working in the Cairo office. Like most other countries, Egypt levies direct taxes such as a corporate profit tax and an income tax on types of personal income. There are also indirect taxes, such as customs duties, sales taxes and entertainment tax. The number of Egyptians employed in a company must not be fewer than 90% of the total employees and their pay should not constitute less than 80% of total salaries and wages paid. “I pay the insurance for my employees, [but] I can’t pay it for me,” says a former entrepreneur.
This type of policy is not specific to Egypt—foreign and local investors face similar laws across the globe—but they do not make life in Egypt easier for Iraqi investors who have refused the title of “refugee”. “I know that this country has a problem of unemployment and that Egyptian workers, as citizens, deserve priority,” says an Iraqi woman living in Cairo. “I understand that and I respect that, but it’s really difficult to turn from a productive person into a jobless person”.
The form of business usually chosen by foreign investors is the Limited Liability Company, known as a WLL (With Limited Liability) which requires a minimum capital of LE 50,000 . For a company offering its shares to the public, the minimum capital is LE 500 000, whereas for a closed company, which does not offer its shares for public subscription, the capital should be at least LE 250,000. However, there are few alternatives. “When people who came with investor visas run out of money, they think about other solutions, such as resettlement in another country,” says our UNHCR source.
Deciding to enter with an investor visa entails the formal denial of the rights accorded to a refugee, including access to special resettlement programs such as the Direct Access Programme of the United States. This forms arbitrary distinction in formal policy between the supposedly wealthy and the vulnerable. Even the highly educated, createve, and hard working begin to feel pessimism. They believed the label of “investor” would protect them but are now finding themselves to be no less vulnerable—and without international insterest, much less assistance. “Often, they come too late. In Iraq they had perhaps experienced rape or torture, but they never mention it.”
As in every country of the world, some are poor and some are not—but for refugees here in Egypt, destitution is always closer than the horizon. It’s just a matter of time.
