Blacks in Egypt

Black people have been a part of Egyptian society since ancient times.
Slavery
Until 19th century
Slavery existed in Egypt for millennia and persisted until the end of the 19th century. Egyptian rulers employed the use of military slaves since the mid-9th century when Ahmad Ibd Tulun recruited 40,000 black Sudanese slaves to his army. Black Sudanese slaves formed the majority of the Egyptian military for two centuries.
While black slaves mainly worked in domestic service, Egypt also used them as soldiers until the late 1800s, when the British occupation of Egypt ultimately brought an end to this practice. Ali, who publicly supported the institution of slavery, required slave owners in the outer regions of Egypt to pay taxes on their slaves. Approximately one million Sudanese and South Sudanese fled the region due to conflict.
While Egypt faces economic malaise, Sudanese refugees face a grim situation amid discrimination and violence, and poverty. The suicide rate is high among Sudanese refugees in Egypt. There are two to three cases of suicide every week, and many of those are students suffering from poverty. There are few jobs for Sudanese people in Egypt, mostly in shops or as cleaners in houses. Even well educated Sudanese refugees such as with doctorates work in these positions because their residence permit does not allow them to work. During raids, security forces randomly arrest people, including those who have a residence permit. Once arrested, they are held in custody for at least a week until the investigation is completed and their residence is confirmed.
The Sudanese migrated in two distinct phases: from 1955 to 1972 and from 1983 until the mid-2000s. A majority of these refugees have wound up in Uganda or Egypt, specifically Cairo. Sudanese refugees in Cairo primarily came with legal passports, but often engaged in illegal work upon arrival.<ref name=":1" />
Overall, the transition into the Egyptian lifestyle has been easier for the Arab Sudanese contrary to the South Sudanese. The Arab Sudanese are considered Arab and share a similar culture and appearance to the Egyptians. The South Sudanese, on the other hand, are mostly black and share fewer cultural similarities with the Egyptians. This, in turn, has caused more strife for the South Sudanese refugees in Egypt than their Sudanese counterparts.
In 2001, only 2,833 Sudanese had been registered as refugees by the United Nations High Commissioner Refugees (UNHCR), while tens of thousands had not been interviewed yet or already denied. Roughly 15,000 Sudanese were denied refugee status from 1997-2000 in Egypt.<ref name":1" /> The majority denied refugee status were black South Sudanese. Refugees without status faced harassment, arrests, and deportation. The Egyptian government has periodically collected refugees presumed to be living in Egypt illegally, despite many having been under the supervision of the UNHCR.<ref name":1" /> As a result of the government's actions toward black refugees, racially motivated harassment and attacks were widespread in the early 2000s. While the black Sudanese were the main victims, other black Africans living in Egypt were victims as well. Historians believe that the history of slavery and racism in Egypt is a probable cause for their attitudes towards the black Sudanese refugees.<ref name=":1" />

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