Egyptian authorities have carried out months of arrests, detention and deportations of refugees and asylum seekers, many from Sudan and South Sudan, over expired residency permits caused by government delays, Human Rights Watch said.
Human Rights Watch said refugees and asylum seekers must renew their residency permits every year. However, long government backlogs have pushed some renewal appointments as far as 2028. As a result, many people now face arrest despite holding valid UNHCR registration cards.
The group said Egypt plans to transfer refugee status decisions from the UN refugee agency to the government under the 2024 Asylum Law. Officials have not yet issued the law’s regulations, while UNHCR also faces delays in processing asylum claims.
Michelle Randhawa, senior refugee and migrant rights officer at Human Rights Watch, said refugees are losing their legal status because of government delays. She said authorities then jail and deport them for lacking documents the state failed to provide.
Human Rights Watch interviewed 19 refugees and asylum seekers from South Sudan, Sudan, Eritrea and Ethiopia in April and May 2026.
The organisation also sent questions to Egypt’s Foreign Ministry on June 23 but said it had received no reply.
Additionally, the group said Egyptian authorities stepped up arrests, detention and deportations from late 2025 into 2026. It said officials often targeted refugees simply because their residency permits had expired.
In March, UN experts also raised concerns about reports of arbitrary arrests and deportations. They warned that authorities failed to assess whether those returned faced persecution in their home countries.
Although Egypt has not released official figures, human rights groups and media reports estimate that thousands of refugees and asylum seekers have been arrested or deported in 2026.
UNHCR said Egypt hosted more than 1.1 million registered refugees and asylum seekers as of May. The number has more than tripled since fighting began in Sudan in April 2023. In 2025, Egypt recorded the world’s highest number of new asylum applications.
A 27-year-old South Sudanese man said police deported him to Juba on April 1 despite his UNHCR card and a residency appointment scheduled for September 2028.
He said officers told him there were “too many Sudanese” in Egypt and ignored his documents.
Human Rights Watch urged Egypt to stop arbitrary arrests, detention and deportations linked to expired residency permits.
It also called on authorities to amend the 2024 Asylum Law to include stronger protections for refugees and asylum seekers.
The organisation said Egypt should create temporary legal status for people waiting for residency appointments.
It also urged the government to work closely with UNHCR and civil society groups to prevent gaps in refugee protection.
Human Rights Watch stressed that Egypt is a party to the 1951 Refugee Convention and the 1969 Organization of African Unity Refugee Convention.
Both agreements prohibit returning people to places where they face persecution.
External Links
Human Rights Watch: https://www.hrw.org
UNHCR Egypt: https://www.unhcr.org/eg
United Nations Refugee Convention: https://www.unhcr.org/about-unhcr/who-we-protect/refugees
