In a move described by human rights advocates and observers as “reformist,” Egyptian authorities—working in coordination with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)—announced an increase in the daily processing capacity for asylum permits to approximately 1,000 people per day, up from the previous cap of 600. This development follows repeated complaints of overcrowding at UNHCR offices, particularly from Sudanese refugees, who make up the largest portion of new arrivals. While the step was welcomed, it has also sparked broader discussions on its adequacy, speed of implementation, and its potential to address deeper issues in Egypt’s asylum and residency framework.
In a statement issued Wednesday, UNHCR said it would begin rescheduling current appointments for residence permits in phases, due to the high volume of applicants. Only individuals with rescheduled appointments will receive SMS notifications with their new appointment dates and relevant information. The agency added that new appointments will continue to be offered via its official offices and information hotline. Refugees and asylum seekers receiving new appointments were instructed to report to the Passport and Immigration Office in Abbassiya on their assigned dates, with only the head of household or primary applicant required to attend, along with family members’ ID cards and personal photos—attendance of the entire family is not necessary.
As of the end of March 2025, Egypt was hosting approximately 942,000 registered refugees and asylum seekers from over 60 nationalities, according to UNHCR. Sudanese nationals top the list, followed by Syrians, Eritreans, Ethiopians, South Sudanese, Somalis, Yemenis, and Iraqis. Most refugees reside in urban areas such as Greater Cairo and Alexandria, relying heavily on humanitarian aid due to economic hardships and limited access to the formal labor market.
Egypt’s Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS) provides significantly higher estimates. In early 2024, CAPMAS director Major General Khairat Barakat stated that official figures indicate the presence of around nine million refugees in Egypt, including four million Sudanese and 1.5 million Syrians—figures predating the most recent Sudanese crisis. With the ongoing conflict, he estimated that an additional two million Sudanese refugees may have entered the country.
These figures underscore the growing hardships experienced by refugees in Egypt. Registered refugees often face difficulties accessing their legal rights and essential services, including healthcare, education, and UNHCR assistance. In this context, Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly ordered an official count and evaluation of refugee numbers in mid-2024 to assess the state’s expenditures on the services provided and to ensure these efforts are documented.
A Positive Step—but with Caveats
The reforms aim to simplify and expedite the issuance of residency permits, a move broadly welcomed by rights groups. The most significant change links residency status directly to asylum status. Observers speaking to Zawia3 described it as a “long-overdue but positive step.” Theoretically, the change allows registered refugees to obtain temporary residency based on their legal status, eliminating the need to circumvent the system by acquiring tourist or student visas, as was previously common. This marks a shift in the state’s approach to refugees and sets the foundation for clearer legal recognition, particularly for those unable to afford or qualify for alternative residence options.
If implemented effectively, linking residency to asylum status could reduce the risk of deportation or legal vulnerability once a permit expires, and may also improve access to essential services such as education, healthcare, and limited employment opportunities.
Mohamed Saeed, Director of the Refugee and Migration Program at the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR), told Zawia3 that while the recent procedural changes—including the extension of permit durations and issuance of a reference number—are positive, they are long overdue and still leave several gaps in refugee protection in Egypt. “Even after the reforms, a refugee must first obtain a reference number from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs before proceeding to the immigration department,” Saeed explained. “Due to mounting pressure, appointments for these procedures can take over 20 or even 25 days—time that eats into the already short residency periods.”
Saeed noted that in many cases, a refugee’s residency expires before the process is completed, stripping them of legal status and access to essential services. He called for increasing residency durations to one year instead of six months, stating: “Extension is good, but unless the delays in issuing reference numbers are resolved or more staff are allocated, the benefits will be limited.”
He added: “There has been a slight increase recently in the number of people receiving reference numbers,” but reliance on a single service center in Cairo—specifically Abbassiya—creates hardship for applicants living outside the capital. He urged decentralization and the expansion of service centers to reduce strain and improve responsiveness.
Human rights activist and executive director of the Refugee Platform in Egypt, Nour Khalil, echoed these concerns. While he praised the move to issue one-year residency permits for refugees and asylum seekers as long overdue and necessary, he emphasized that “the core problem remains unsolved.” Speaking to Zawia3, he explained that registering with UNHCR and obtaining a registration card does not automatically grant legal status. Refugees must still go through the reference number procedure to apply for residency with the Ministry of Interior—an essential step for legal protection in Egypt.
Procedural Barriers Exacerbate the Crisis
Mohamed Saeed explained that a significant number of refugees in Egypt have faced severe bureaucratic obstacles over the past years in registering with UNHCR and obtaining their asylum cards. “The procedures were overly complex and slow, causing many eligible individuals to abandon the registration process despite their right to international protection, simply due to frustration with the prolonged procedures,” he said.
Saeed added that the six-month residency permit granted to asylum seekers was insufficient given the administrative complexities. “Between 55 to 60 days of that residency period would be lost to bureaucracy — from booking appointments to obtaining the reference number from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and finally dealing with the Passport and Immigration Authority. That left refugees with only a fraction of usable residency time,” he noted.
He also clarified that holding an asylum card does not entitle refugees to the full set of rights associated with legal residency. Once the card expires, essential services are automatically cut off — including access to bank accounts and even mobile phone services, which are deactivated immediately upon expiry. This led many refugees in the past to opt for tourist or student residencies, which were previously cheaper and easier to obtain.
However, Saeed noted that the situation changed significantly over the last two years. The government raised the cost of student residency permits to approximately $150 per person — a sum many refugee families cannot afford — and began requiring security clearance for tourist visas. These developments severely limited alternative options, forcing a large number of refugees to return to the UNHCR registration route. “That explains the recent surge in those acquiring refugee status in Egypt,” he said, “but the pace of issuing legal residencies has not kept up, creating a clear gap that demands urgent solutions to ensure that all refugees can obtain legal documentation that respects their dignity and eases daily life.”
For his part, Nour Khalil pointed out that while residency permits are supposed to be valid for six months, current appointment schedules stretch as far ahead as 2027. “This means some refugees may remain legally registered but without valid residency for a year and a half or more,” he said. “The core issue is that without valid residency, refugees are deprived of access to all public services — whether provided by the state or civil society — including education, healthcare, SIM card renewal, and even the ability to obtain birth certificates for their children or assign legal representation to a lawyer.”
Children Deprived of Education
Nour Khalil highlights some of the most pressing issues facing refugees in Egypt, particularly their inability to access essential services such as healthcare and education. He explains that the education crisis among refugee children has reached a catastrophic level, with fewer than 3% enrolled in formal education. This, he says, is largely due to complex bureaucratic procedures and the requirement for valid residency permits. “Since last year, schools have been demanding documents that refugees simply can’t provide without legal residency, leading to thousands of children being denied their fundamental right to education,” Khalil said.
He adds that delays in issuing residency permits do not only deprive refugees of education — they endanger their lives. “We’ve documented deaths resulting from public hospitals refusing to admit refugees without valid residency, even though UNHCR instructs them to seek care at those hospitals due to reduced humanitarian assistance,” he stressed, calling the situation a “death sentence.”
Khalil warns that the crisis has escalated over the past three months, particularly among Sudanese refugees, some of whom have been stopped by police for lacking valid residency — a situation that could lead to deportation. “We are currently looking at over 400,000 refugees without valid residency permits, which is nearly half the number registered with UNHCR,” he noted.
While the recent increase in daily residency processing capacity from 600 to 1,000 cases was welcomed, Khalil insists it falls short of addressing the wide gap between the number of registered refugees and those holding legal residency. “If we’re registering hundreds of people each day, the residency gap will persist for at least a year unless an organized transitional phase is introduced,” he said.
Regarding the new refugee law, Khalil pointed out a clause that mandates the establishment of a specialized refugee affairs committee within three months of the law’s issuance. However, he questioned how the committee would function without clear executive regulations or a precise legal framework. “We can’t expect a committee lacking expertise or detailed legal guidance to manage the refugee file from start to finish,” he said.
Khalil also noted that global cuts to humanitarian funding have directly impacted UNHCR’s services in Egypt. “Official data shows that about 20,000 people have been affected just by the discontinuation of health aid. UNHCR now directs refugees to public hospitals, yet they’re denied entry due to lacking valid residency. How does that make sense? It’s absurd — and it endangers lives,” he warned.
Egypt is a signatory to the 1951 Refugee Convention and its 1967 Protocol, both of which mandate the protection of refugees fleeing to its territory. Article 91 of Egypt’s 2014 Constitution affirms the right of the state to grant asylum to any foreign national persecuted for defending the rights of peoples. Additionally, Article 93 commits the state to uphold international human rights treaties and charters.
The UN defines a refugee as someone forced to flee their country due to war, violence, or persecution, who cannot or is unwilling to return out of fear. The 1951 Refugee Convention further defines a refugee as someone residing outside their country of origin due to a well-founded fear of persecution based on race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion.
In recent years, Egypt has received a large influx of refugees due to regional conflicts. A report from Egypt’s House of Representatives claimed that in 2023, the country ranked third globally in the number of asylum requests received.
In December 2023, Egypt passed a new asylum law that sparked widespread domestic and international debate. While the law contains provisions aimed at organizing the reception of refugees and ensuring their legal protection, it also imposes restrictions that some view as excessive.
The law includes 39 articles regulating the status of refugees in Egypt. One of the key provisions is the creation of a permanent Refugee Affairs Committee under the Cabinet, tasked with collecting data and statistics on refugee populations and ruling on asylum applications. The law sets a six-month deadline to process applications for those who entered Egypt legally and a 12-month period for those who entered irregularly. It prioritizes vulnerable groups such as persons with disabilities, the elderly, pregnant women, unaccompanied minors, and victims of trafficking or sexual violence.
The law also offers several rights to refugees, including protection from forced return to their country of origin, the right to access the judicial system without legal fees, the right to primary education, adequate healthcare, and legal work — either self-employed or through company formation or employment — without being subject to extra taxes or financial burdens. Refugees also have the right to apply for Egyptian citizenship under the prescribed procedures.
However, the law prohibits refugees from engaging in political or partisan activities or joining professional unions, in order to safeguard national security and public order. It also allows the Refugee Affairs Committee to coordinate refugee resettlement in other countries and outlines conditions under which refugee status may be terminated — such as voluntary return, acquisition of another nationality, or absence from Egypt for six consecutive months without an accepted justification.
The law obligates refugees to respect Egypt’s constitution, legal system, and societal values, and prohibits actions that threaten national security or public order. It also bans activities contrary to the goals of the United Nations, African Union, or Arab League. Refugee status may be revoked and the individual immediately deported if it is proven that it was obtained through fraud, misrepresentation, or concealment of essential information, or if the refugee commits any of the prohibited acts outlined in the law.
While the recent reforms signal a positive step toward improving refugee conditions in Egypt, practical challenges remain. These include cumbersome administrative procedures, limited resources and infrastructure, and the lack of comprehensive legal recognition of refugee rights. Linking residency to asylum status and increasing daily processing capacity are promising developments, but they must be accompanied by broader reforms — including streamlined procedures, decentralized service access, and guaranteed access to essential services. The core challenge lies not just in rising numbers, but in building a fair and humane asylum system that places dignity at its center.
