Religious Mobilities in the City: African Migrants and New Christendom in Cairo

Abstract

African migration has been a phenomenon in Egypt since the early 1990s, just as it has been in the Maghreb. Refugees, economic migrants or ‘refugees of poverty’ arrive into a ‘space-between’ or ‘migratory airlock’. Some of them hope to continue their route out of Egypt with the help of the United Nations or their social networks, whereas others who moved to Egypt for security reasons are waiting to go back to their own countries. However, due to different strict migration policies or because the refugees are unable to return home, many have to settle in Cairo in spite of the difficult environment in this host country (e.g. racism, lack of rights). Most of these migrants are Christians and their presence symbolises an original case of religious diversification in the Arab world. What characterises this religious diversification and how is it perceived by Egyptian citizens, Coptic or Muslim, or even the government? How does religion become a real resource for ‘transit migrants’ and how does their religious re-territorialisation affect urban organisation?