Refugee caterers bring taste of Syria to Cairo
A group of Syrian women refugees have opened a catering service in Cairo to make ends meet, and Egyptians are relishing their efforts.
CAIRO — It didn’t take long for some Syrian refugees to find their niches in Egypt. Eleven Syrian women are cooking the recipes from their grandmothers, and Egyptians are eating it up.
Since the Syrian civil war began in 2011, millions of Syrians have left for neighboring countries. Most of them now live in Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan, while some have fled to Europe. Tareq al-Koni, the assistant to the Egyptian foreign minister for Arab affairs, told Al-Monitor that the number of Syrian refugees registered in the Office of Refugee Affairs in Egypt increased from 115,000 in 2016 to 120,000 by mid-2017. According to the latest data issued by the UNHCR on July 31, the number of Syrian women registered with the organization make up 48.8% of a total 122,203 Syrian refugees in Egypt. This figure also includes some 52,000 children who receive help from the Egyptian government.
