Egypt Arbitrarily Arrested and Deported Refugees with Expired Residence Permits, Human Rights Watch (HRW) reported Tuesday.
The majority of these refugees and asylum seekers come from Sudan and South Sudan. Sudan is in the fourth year of a deadly civil war as violence reigns again South Sudan .
The situation in Egypt is partly due to a legal quagmire. In 2024 the government passed one Asylum law This is intended to transfer asylum obligations from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to the government, but the transfer has not occurred. There is now a backlog at both the government and UNHCR as people with expired permits “will not receive renewal appointments until 2028.” According to Human Rights Watch, the arrests are occurring because of these delays. Egyptian authorities have reportedly done so Thousands of refugees were arrested this year.
In addition, the new law does not contain the principle Non-refoulementThis means countries cannot send migrants back to a country where “they would be subjected to torture, cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.”
other irreparable damage.” Non-refoulement applies regardless of immigration status. As party of the year 1951 Refugee ConventionEgypt must follow suit.
The Convention also contains due process requirements. Article 32 states that expulsion can only take place following due process. Article 16 states that refugees should have the same access to justice as nationals. In addition, Article 31 states that countries may not impose penalties against refugee situations that threaten life or freedom.
There are over a million refugees living in Egypt. It passed the 2024 law control illegal immigration and smuggling networks. The law was also enacted as European countries faced their own refugee problems and migration surged due to global conflicts.
Initially, the new law was praised for providing a path to citizenship and removing employment restrictions for refugees. However, there have been concerns about the government’s authority to decide who is a refugee. Furthermore, the implementation backlog only perpetuates the problem.
