Refugees, rights and Revolution

The Arab Spring has dramatically changed the legal and political reality of much of the Middle East, including Egypt. Although not discussed in the popular or academic scholarship to date, the Egyptian Revolution has resulted in significant hardship for refugees in Egypt, including by decreasing their livelihood opportunities, increasing the xenophobic violence to which they are subject, and otherwise making more difficult their access to protection. In the light of the Revolution, legal service providers in Egypt have been forced to adopt new strategies for the provision of legal assistance. This project seeks to examine how the strategies of legal service providers have changed over the course of the Revolution and the implications of the changes in strategies for the underlying protection and enjoyment of rights by refugees in Egypt.

This project will be conducted in partnership with the Egyptian Foundation for Refugee Rights.