It’s Time to Help Palestinians Left Behind in Egypt
On October 7, Noor*, a humanitarian worker and mother, prepared to take her four children to school in Khan Yunis. But that day, everything changed. Hamas’ brutal attack on Israel and Israel’s retaliation quickly upended her life in Gaza. Noor and her family sheltered at home for two months as Israeli bombs fell on their neighborhood. Despite the risks, she used her home to distribute aid to her local community, narrowly escaping death when a bomb hit a neighbor’s house.
Noor is one of more than 100,000 Palestinians who have fled the horrors of the Gaza war to Egypt since October 7.
“Every night, I stared at the ceiling, desperately trying to calm my thoughts and reassure myself that it wouldn’t fall and bury my children,” she told Refugees International. Determined to stay, they cleaned up and lived in the undamaged parts of their home.
As the conflict escalated, Noor was displaced with her family to Rafah on December 1, juggling roles as a mother and a humanitarian aid worker. Life in Rafah proved to be equally dangerous. Eventually, the relentless danger forced her to leave Gaza informally with her four children—a decision that meant sacrificing her career and savings.
Since May 7, the indefinite closure of the Rafah border crossing has meant that no one else can leave or return Gaza, preventing displaced Palestinians from reuniting with their loved ones or escaping danger.
“…people are escaping death. They had some money to pay to leave, but when they arrived here, they faced the challenge of restarting their lives.”
Displaced to Egypt
Noor is one of more than 100,000 Palestinians who have fled the horrors of the Gaza war to Egypt since October 7. Displaced Palestinians in Egypt are in a precarious situation, unable to return to Gaza or legally integrate into Egyptian society. They face legal limbo without refugee or residency status, making access to education, healthcare, banking, and employment extremely difficult.
“For me, this is another form of displacement,” Noor told Refugees International. “…people are escaping death. They had some money to pay to leave, but when they arrived here, they faced the challenge of restarting their lives.”
Noor’s children cannot attend Egyptian schools, and private education is not an option without legal status. Many Palestinian children rely on virtual classes from West Bank schools, but access to Egyptian public or private schools are, for now, out of reach. Healthcare access is another challenge. Initially, Noor’s brother helped her get medical care for her sick child when they reached Egypt, but most Palestinian families cannot afford the high cost of private healthcare long-term. Meanwhile, those who were medically evacuated from Gaza to Egypt for critical care find themselves increasingly in need of humanitarian assistance to survive, but are struggling to receive it. Employment is similarly restricted to those with legal status, pushing many into low-paying informal jobs. Even those employed with NGOs in Gaza lost their jobs when they were forced to leave their duty stations.
Serious Protection Gaps
The 1965 Casablanca Protocol, which Egypt signed, committed to granting Palestinian refugees residence and rights equal to citizens, but these rights are not honored in practice. Egypt is reluctant to allow UN agencies with refugee mandates to operate independently, fearing it would undermine Palestinians’ ability to return to Gaza. UNRWA, which traditionally supports Palestinian refugees in the region, has no mandate in Egypt.
Palestinians in Egypt are at risk of falling through the gap in international protection unless Egypt and the international community intervene to offer pathways for resettlement and access to essential services.
Displaced Palestinians outside UNRWA’s mandate should be under the UN Refugee Agency’s (UNHCR) responsibility, but in Egypt, UNHCR cannot register them without government consent, limiting the support it can provide. Palestinians in Egypt are at risk of falling through the gap in international protection unless Egypt and the international community intervene to offer pathways for resettlement and access to essential services.
The limits of Egypt’s Go-At-It Alone policy
For Egypt, refugees are a sovereignty issue, not only a capacity issue. In times of crisis, Egyptian authorities prioritize domestic stability and security, and limit the role of outside actors, like UN agencies or INGOs. However, in the last decade, Egypt’s capacity has been increasingly strained by multiple overlapping displacement crises, including Syrian and Sudanese refugees, and now displaced Palestinians.
For Egypt, refugees are a sovereignty issue, not only a capacity issue.
As a result, Egypt’s response to the Palestinian displacement crisis has been largely self-reliant. Cairo has designated the Egyptian Red Crescent (ERC) as its humanitarian lead, working closely with the Ministry of Social Solidarity. All international cooperation and coordination between Egypt, the UN, and the broader humanitarian community is channeled through the ERC. However, with limited experience in managing large-scale displacement crises, the ERC has had to rapidly scale and professionalize its operations to meet the growing needs across Egypt. Despite these efforts, the demands have outpaced Cairo’s ability to manage them alone. Meanwhile, an ambiguous legal framework governing asylum and refugees, combined with institutional mistrust of international agencies, further complicates the situation.
Improving aid and protection in Egypt
For over 100,000 displaced Palestinians, some form of legal temporary status would be an important first step. This would alleviate many of the initial challenges Palestinians face by giving them the legal papers necessary to enroll their children in school, open up bank accounts, and access health insurance. The Palestinian Ambassador to Egypt Diab al-Louh has requested Egyptian authorities grant those who fled the Gaza war temporary residencies, which can be renewed until the war ends in Gaza. Such a status could look like the U.S. Temporary Protected Status (TPS), which provides temporary status and the ability to stay in the United States for those facing difficult or unsafe conditions in their home country.
Egyptian authorities may look to either the ERC or the Palestinian Embassy to do the initial registration process. This will be difficult due to capacity constraints and will likely require Egypt to authorize UN agencies, especially UNRWA and UNHCR, to support in registering displaced Palestinians.
Congress could lead by earmarking more aid for displaced Palestinians and lifting restrictions on funding for UNRWA.
These steps, in collaboration with the Egyptian Red Crescent, would help Egypt improve its own capacity to manage its various displacement crises, including registration, service provision, and cash support. The ERC is gradually developing these capacities with support from UN agencies and INGOs operating under significant restrictions. However, Egypt should consider fostering a more supportive environment for these organizations to expand their services to displaced Palestinians. This could include cash assistance, health services, temporary education (both in-person and online), and legal support. While these services should be able to be provided individually, coordinating these services with the ERC may be a palatable first step which would not only reduce the financial burden on Egyptian authorities but also attract increased donor funding to support aid and services for Palestinians and other displaced communities in Egypt.
The Biden administration, in concert with other donors, should incentivize these changes by expanding international assistance to Egypt through an expanded aid package for Palestinian refugees in Egypt. Local NGOs currently provide some aid, but it’s insufficient. Expanding NGO services, with more funding from donors, would help meet displaced Palestinians’ needs and reduce the financial burden on Egyptian authorities. Congress could lead by earmarking more aid for displaced Palestinians and lifting restrictions on funding for UNRWA.
Opening up Pathways
The United States must also be ready to shoulder the responsibility for resettling displaced Palestinians with close family ties to dual citizens and those facing the greater levels of vulnerability, including emergency medical cases, unaccompanied children, and orphans.
Canada has taken the lead by offering temporary visas for 5,000 Palestinians directly affected by the Gaza war who have Canadian citizen or permanent resident family members in Canada. This pathway, while temporary, allows Palestinians to apply for study and work permits with three months access to federally funded health programs.
Members of Congress should push the Biden administration to follow suit amidst fierce opposition and rising xenophobia against Palestinians. In June, nearly 70 Democratic senators and representatives sent a letter to Secretary of State Blinken and Homeland Security Secretary Mayorkas urging them to open pathways for Palestinian refugees from Gaza who are relatives of either U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents. This follows reports that the Biden administration was considering pathways to bring Palestinian refugees from Gaza to the United States. Such a move is a critical step for the United States to do right by thousands of Palestinians who escaped Gaza under U.S. bombs–many of whom left because their names were on a U.S. Embassy list for evacuations out of Gaza.
Opening a pathway to legal status for over 100,000 refugees like Noor, who gave up everything to save her children, could make all the difference.
*Refugees International is using a pseudonym to protect the identity of our interviewee.
Featured Image: A Palestinian woman looks at a photo of the rubble of her destroyed building in the Gaza strip, while sitting in a cafe in Cairo, Egypt. Photo by Johannes Sadek via Getty Images.