Syrians in Egypt fear new restrictions signal worse to come
Many Egyptians believe their government and its supporters are behind the latest xenophobic campaign targeting Syrian refugees in the country, including attacks on their businesses.
The closure of a popular Syrian-owned restaurant in the east Alexandria neighborhood of Asafra over what an employee in the Alexandria governor's office claimed to be "health code violations" has renewed fears among Syrians of tighter restrictions on their businesses in Egypt. It has also sparked a new wave of hostility toward Syrian refugees, raising concerns about their personal safety in a country that has largely been accommodating to them.
In mid-August, security forces sealed the doors of the Bride of Damascus (Aroos Dimashq) after a resident in the same building filed a lawsuit against its owner, complaining that gas cylinders in the restaurant's ground-floor kitchen posed an imminent danger to the building's occupants and to the neighborhood in general. The complainant's elderly mother had earlier appealed to President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to take punitive measures against the restaurant owner and posted a video on Twitter showing the Syrian man dismissing her objections and telling her to "get me a man to talk to."
The video prompted a "social media row," with angry Egyptians via Twitter calling for the deportation of Syrian refugees. Others later cheered the restaurant's closing, thanking the government for the "restitution made to Egyptians." Government supporters appear to be behind the xenophobic social media campaign and are its loudest voices, claiming that Syrian businesses are financed by the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood and accusing Syrians of "funding terrorism."
Meanwhile, other Egyptians have expressed solidarity with the Syrians, drawing similarities between the hate campaign targeting them and white supremacists' campaigns against African Americans and other people of color in the United States. Posting images of "illegal" street cafes, one person noted that corruption in local government is allowing some Egyptian cafe owners to defy the law and questioned why the authorities were turning a blind eye to such violations while going after Syrian-run businesses.
