CAIRO — It has been almost five years since the Syrian revolution broke out on March 18, 2011. As the conflict between the various factions of the Syrian opposition and the regime of President Bashar al-Assad persists, over 4 million Syrians have fled to regional countries, including Egypt, in hopes of finding a decent future, free of the life-threatening risks that they encounter in Syria.

However, these hopes are currently endangered in Egypt. According to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the country is home to about 160,000 Syrian refugees, and there are offices set up to traffic in Syrian female refugees and arrange for customary marriages between Syrian women and Egyptian men in exchange for a fee. Customary marriage — known as nikah 'urfi — is a type of marriage where the contract is not registered with the state and no witnesses are required.

Al-Monitor met with Youssra al-Dali, 24, a Syrian woman who had no option but to marry a man over the age of 50 just to ensure that she had food and shelter.

Dali explained to Al-Monitor the reasons that prompted her to opt for this marriage. “I came to Egypt with my mother two years ago to escape the life-threatening situation in Syria. Bashar al-Assad's army killed my father, and we had no money to survive. All we had was 7,000 Egyptian pounds [$894] as we lost our belongings and homes in Syria and needed someone to feed us.”