Four human rights Special Rapporteurs appointed by the UN Human Rights Council published a joint communication addressed to the Egyptian government regarding the situation of migrants, asylum seekers, and refugees in Egypt. The communication expressed deep concern over the widespread escalation in patterns of arbitrary detention and forced deportation, accompanied by increasing violations of legal protections guaranteed to them under the Constitution and international treaties to which Egypt is a party. 

The communication is based on detailed information, figures, and statistics documenting a pattern of grave violations of the rights of refugees, asylum seekers, and migrants in Egypt—particularly those fleeing the armed conflict in Sudan, including women, children, individuals in vulnerable situations, and potential victims of human trafficking.

Both the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EPR) and the Refugee Platform in Egypt (RPE) had submitted a report to the four UN rapporteurs in June 2025 on the collapse of the refugee protection system in Egypt, documenting an unprecedented surge in cases of arbitrary detention and unlawful refoulment.

The communication was signed by the Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially women and children; the Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants; the Independent Expert on protection against violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity; and the Working Group on discrimination against women and girls.

The communication addressed in 22 pages six main areas related to the broader crisis triggered by the arrival of large numbers of refugees fleeing armed conflict in Sudan, the unlawful refoulment  of refugees, asylum seekers, and migrants, as well as the restrictions and shortcomings contained in the Foreigners’ Asylum Law enacted in 2024. The communication reiterated earlier concerns about the incompatibility of several provisions of the new law with the Egyptian Constitution and international obligations, in addition to specific risks facing children and minors—particularly unaccompanied children—amid escalating threats of human trafficking, gender-based violence, and shortages of humanitarian assistance resources.

Regarding Sudanese refugees who fled to Egypt, the communication noted that as of October 2025, Egypt hosts more than one million registered refugees and asylum seekers from 62 nationalities, with Sudanese constituting the overwhelming majority due to the ongoing conflict in Sudan. The number of refugees registered with UNHCR increased by 235%, while the number of registered Sudanese rose by over 1,000%, underscoring that the current war is the most extensive in modern Sudanese history, causing successive waves of displacement beyond the country’s borders due to the scarcity of safe havens within Sudan. This formed the basis of UNHCR’s April 2025 guidelines on the international protection needs of those displaced from Sudan.

Despite this dire humanitarian context, the communication documented mounting restrictions imposed by Egyptian authorities on entry and residence of Sudanese since the outbreak of the war—most notably, since June 2023, the requirement for a valid passport and entry visa, with visa processing times at Egyptian consulates in Wadi Halfa and Port Sudan reaching eight to nine months. Visa applications have been suspended since May 2024, except for cases related to healthcare or education, leaving tens of thousands of displaced Sudanese in need of international protection stranded in Wadi Halfa and forcing many others into irregular entry, exposing them to severe risks including violence, exploitation, extortion, and sexual abuse. The communication noted that approximately 84% of registered refugees and asylum seekers in Egypt entered the country irregularly.

Most alarming—and extensively documented in the communication—is the unprecedented surge in arbitrary detention and forced deportation of refugees and asylum seekers, including those registered with UNHCR and holders of legal residence permits. The communication cites reports showing a marked increase in arrests between 2024 and 2025, including arrests on the streets and at homes during random police identity checks without legal basis or individual criminal suspicion, relying instead on discriminatory criteria based on race and skin color. It also highlighted repeated police practices—according to various sources—amounting to a widespread and unprecedented pattern of confiscating asylum registration documents or even UNHCR-issued refugee cards to facilitate unlawful deportation.

The communication documented this escalating crackdown with figures, comparing statistics from January to August 2024 with the same period in 2025, showing a 121% rise in arrests and detentions of UNHCR-registered individuals. It also reported at least 1,128 migrants and asylum seekers detained in the first quarter of 2025 alone, with estimates suggesting that between 10,000 and 22,000 Sudanese refugees and asylum seekers were forcibly deported in 2024.

The communication stressed that these practices constitute a direct and grave violation of the principle of non-refoulement—a principle that is absolute and non-derogable on grounds of security or irregular migration. This principle is binding on Egypt under multiple refugee conventions it has ratified, as well as the Convention Against Torture and customary international law.

Regarding the situation of refugee children and minors—estimated by UNHCR at 501,996 children and youth of school age—the communication cited reports of child detention, including unaccompanied minors, denial of asylum procedures and basic protection, and cases of family separation due to detention or deportation, leaving children without care.

The communication also pointed to escalating risks of sexual violence, child marriage, female genital mutilation, and child trafficking amid the absence of effective protection systems and acute shortages of humanitarian assistance resources. Additionally, migrant and asylum-seeking children are deprived of basic education services, with half of UNHCR-registered children out of school due to complex enrollment procedures in Egyptian public schools and restrictive conditions that render access to education nearly impossible for refugees, especially those fleeing conflicts. These include requiring families to provide official documents from previous schools—a practical impossibility in a context like Sudan given the ongoing war there.

See the communication here: https://spcommreports.ohchr.org/TMResultsBase/DownLoadPublicCommunicationFile?gId=30371

For the report submitted by EIPR and RPE, see: “The Collapse of Egypt's Protection for Refugees”