AFRICAN REFUGEE AND ASYLUM SEEKER DOMESTIC WORKERS IN EGYPT

In a restrictive context where refugees and asylum seekers in Egypt face difficulties to access the labour market, they are pushed to pursue employment in the informal sector of domestic work. With the increasing demand on foreign domestic workers in Egypt, particularly from African countries, African female refugees and asylum seekers find domestic work as a good opportunity to secure a decent living. They engage with increasing numbers in domestic work to be able to support themselves and their families. With the absence of any policy that regulates domestic work in Egypt; African refugee and asylum seeker domestic workers find themselves subject to exploitation and abuse. Therefore, this thesis seeks to explore the working conditions of African refugee and asylum seeker domestic workers as well as their vulnerabilities. It also investigates how the existing legal frameworks are impeding their access to protection. Additionally, the thesis explores o the protection strategies that the African refugee and asylum seeker domestic workers develop to pursue protection. This is done through the self-governance approach and the strategies approach in connection to Bourdieu’s notion of capitals. A separate analysis for African Refugee and Asylum Seeker domestic workers is justified in this thesis since they are faced with additional layer of vulnerabilities and discrimination due to their legal and social status. While Migrant domestic workers in the Gulf countries and Lebanon under the Kafala system has attracted the attention of academics, policy makers, and NGOs over the past years; the experiences of African migrant – especially refugees and asylum seekers - domestic workers in Egypt have been greatly neglected.