Egypt's parliament approves asylum law amendments 'in principle'

Proposals set to place ill-defined powers in hands of committee that lacks impartiality, critics say

Sudanese refugees in Egypt play in a football tournament at Freedom Stadium in Cairo. Getty Images

A draft bill seeking to amend Egypt's asylum law was preliminarily approved by parliament on Sunday following an outcry by a coalition of rights groups who say the bill poses risks to the rights of those seeking a safe haven in the Arab world's most populous nation.

During Sunday's plenary session, which was televised on some state TV channels, the House approved "in principle" the new draft bill, which was pushed through to the floor after an affirmative review by the parliament's defence and national security committees last week.

Under Egyptian law, for the parliament to agree "in principle" means that a bill's contents were deemed appropriate by a majority in the assembly. Parliament will have to discuss the details of the bill before it gives a final approval. The bill will then need to be ratified by the president before it becomes law.

Refugees and human rights organisations say the bill would transfer responsibility for processing and caring for refugees from the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, to an Egyptian government committee. It also codifies the treatment of refugees under Egyptian law.

The committee would be headed by the Prime Minister and be Egypt's highest authority on refugee affairs, deciding who is granted asylum. It will review each case individually and rule on the status of applicants according to guidelines that rights groups called "vague" in a statement this week.

Concerns have been raised that the bill gives the Egyptian government the upper hand over existing mechanisms for processing refugees, a task thus far done by the UNHCR. However, the government has insisted it will be co-operating with the UN, not superseding it.

The government says it will offer refugees rights for the first time, including the right to work. The new Permanent Committee for Refugee Affairs will begin processing asylum claims as soon as the legislation is passed. But those whose claims are approved will have to undergo the same process every year, Egyptian authorities said.

Twenty-two human rights organisations accused the government of drafting the bill without consultation with stakeholders. They said its unclear wording could be used to undermine refugee rights by the committee, which is made up of cabinet ministers instead of independent personnel.

In a statement released on Saturday, the groups including the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights and the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies said they "categorically rejected" the draft legislation. They said it was part of a broader trend in the country of forming policy without consulting outside the government.

However, Maj Gen Ahmed Al Awady, who heads the national security and defence committees in parliament, has said that the bill is an important measure for Egypt's national security and was approved by the cabinet as well as parliament's human rights, constitution and legislation committees.

He argued that the main purpose of the law is to legally deal with foreign nationals whose presence in Egypt is unlawful. “Under the new regulations, anyone in Egypt illegally will be treated as a refugee,” he said.

Wars in neighbouring Gaza and Sudan have led tens of thousands of people to seek refuge in Egypt over the past two years, and around 818,000 refugees were registered in the country with the UNHCR as of October 31. However, Mr Al Awady said there are likely many more people who entered illegally and were not counted.

The NGOs said the proposed law fails to adhere to international refugee protection standards or conventions and could void prior international agreements which are "the backbone of the current asylum system supervised by UNHCR". They warn that the new committee lacks clear selection criteria for processing asylum claims, or training requirements and operating procedures aligned with the international legal framework – potentially weakening refugee protections.

The draft law will require even refugees already permitted to be in Egypt by the UNHCR to present their cases before the committee, with their permits being decided within six months of their request date and renewed annually, according to Mr Al Awady. Whether a refugee's country of origin is safe for their return will not be factored into their approval process under the new system, Mr Al Awady said, asserting that if an application is rejected “they can choose any other country and go there if they want”.

The bill contains vaguely worded emergency powers to take any “measures it deems necessary” against refugees, the rights groups said, unjustifiably expanding the grounds for revoking refugee status for ill-defined "national security" reasons – potentially enabling forced returns. The law will also restrict access to fundamental rights like education, health care and housing to only recognised refugees, excluding any unapproved asylum seekers.

Passage of the bill has been followed closely by Sudanese refugees residing in Egypt as their country reels from a civil war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced over 11 million, both internally and to neighbouring countries. “Since last week, many members of our community have been talking about this new law and watching its developments on TV," said a 54-year-old Sudanese refugee living in Cairo’s Faisal district, who preferred to remain anonymous.

"It is very worrying for many of us because it is the latest in a string of measures taken by the Egyptian government that has made being here very difficult for us and has made us feel unwelcome.” He said that even before the legislation was made public, life was becoming increasingly difficult for Sudanese migrants in Egypt, many of whom have been forced to live very frugally to offset rising costs.

Some are hiding from police and enforcement agents after the government in August last year gave illegal residents until June 30, 2024, to pay US$1,000 to legalise their status. “Many of us are already hiding from the authorities because of unpaid fees. We only leave the house for necessities and avoid any confrontations with law enforcement whenever we can,” the Sudanese migrant said.

A combination of greater government restrictions, the rising cost of living and the rejection of refugees among some Egyptians who feel their jobs are threatened has forced many Sudanese to return home. “This law, if passed, will most likely force more of us to return to Sudan,” the migrant said.

Civil society groups are calling for the draft to be returned to the parliamentary committees for a meaningful debate and substantive revisions with input from experts to ensure alignment with international obligations. They said there was a need for clear provisions governing the refugee committee's work and a comprehensive transition plan to avoid disrupting current asylum procedures and refugee rights.

The battle lines between the government and human rights advocates appear starkly drawn, with the future of Egypt's sizeable and vulnerable refugee population hanging in the balance.