“Seeking a Widow with Orphaned Children”: Understanding Sutra Marriage Amongst Syrian Refugee Women in Egypt

Egypt currently hosts more than 200 thousand refugees registered by the UN?HCR all living in urban communities. More than half, around 120 thousand are from Syria (ECHO Factsheet: Egypt, 2018) arriving after 2011. Fleeing one of the worst humanitarian crises since World War II, Syrians arrive to an economically troubled country and a politically polarizing atmosphere, where they face a lack of opportunities and a high cost of living. Some Syrian women in Egypt have drawn the attention of media, religious leaders, and advocacy groups by marrying Egyptian men soon after arriving (Hassan 2015; Geha 2013). Social media campaigns such as Laajiat Lasabaya (Lājiʾāt la Sabāyā) or “Refugees, not spoils of war” (also rendered on their Facebook page as: Refugees…Not Spoils) were ignited as a reaction to this practice in Egypt, as well as Lebanon, Jordan and other Arab countries where such marriages have been facilitated, encouraged and organized through different channels such as marriage brokers, social media and religious organizations (Barkan 2012). Other Information Published in: Migration and Islamic Ethics License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0 See chapter on publisher's website: https://dx.doi.org/10.1163/9789004417342_006