Author
Legislative Background
Egypt participated in the drafting of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and voted in favor of its adoption at the United Nations General Assembly on December 10, 1948.[1] It signed and later acceded to the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees,[2] with reservations on certain provisions, as well as to its 1967 Protocol.[3]
The first step toward implementation of the Refugee Convention in Egypt was the establishment of a UNHCR office, which began operations in 1954.[4] This was based on a Memorandum of Understanding signed with the Egyptian government, represented by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The UNHCR office has since been responsible for providing a range of services to asylum seekers, including registration, refugee status determination, protection, resettlement, voluntary return assistance, and other forms of support.
The first formal incorporation of refugee law into Egyptian domestic legislation occurred in 1980, when the Parliament ratified three key international instruments signed by Egypt. These were enacted through Presidential Decrees No. 331, 332, and 333 of 1980, and included the following conventions:
- The 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees[5] and the 1967 Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees.[6] On 28 June 1980, Egypt acceded to the Convention through Presidential Decree No. 331 of 1980, issued, and joined the amending Protocol through Presidential Decree No. 333 of 1980, issued on the same date.
- The 1969 Organization of African Unity (OAU) Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of Refugee Problems in Africa.[7] It is based on the 1951 Refugee Convention and its 1967 Protocol and extends international protection to refugees across the African continent. The Convention broadens the definition of a refugee beyond that of the 1951 Convention to include individuals fleeing natural disasters, external aggression, armed conflict, or occupation. Egypt acceded to the Convention via Presidential Decree[8] This is a regional legal instrument governing refugee protection in Africa.
- The 1990 International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families. This Convention is a comprehensive international treaty that focuses on protecting the rights of migrant workers and members of their families. It emphasizes the link between migration and human rights. Egypt acceded to this Convention by Presidential Decree No. 446 of 1991, issued on November 11, 1991, and published in Official Gazette No. 21 on August 5, 1992.
- The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Egypt acceded to the Covenant by Presidential Decree No. 536 of 1981, issued on October 1, 1981, and published in Official Gazette No. 15 on April 15, 1982. (Egypt issued a declaration accompanying its ratification, stating that Egypt’s commitment would be consistent with Islamic law.)
- The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. Egypt acceded to the Covenant by Presidential Decree No. 537 of 1981, issued on October 1, 1981, and published in Official Gazette No. 14 on April 8, 1982. (Egypt issued a declaration accompanying its ratification, stating that Egypt’s commitment would be consistent with Islamic law.)
Under Article 151 of the 1971 Constitution, which authorized the President to conclude treaties subject to ratification by the People’s Assembly, these conventions were granted the force of law upon ratification and publication. This legal incorporation made the 1951 Refugee Convention and its related instruments part of national legislation. Both the 2012 and 2014 Egyptian constitutions reaffirmed this principle, stating that ratified international treaties hold the force of domestic law.
Despite the existence of a legal framework based on Egypt’s ratification of international refugee conventions, the asylum system in practice suffers from significant deficiencies. Refugees and asylum seekers continue to face serious challenges in accessing and exercising their right to seek asylum and to enjoy associated rights. These difficulties are compounded by frequent violations of both international obligations and domestic legal standards by the host state, which has undermined the overall system of protection for refugees in Egypt.
Law No. 164 of 2024: The 2024 Asylum Law
On November 16, 2024, Law No. 164 of 2024 was enacted, signed by President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, and published in the Official Gazette.[9] Law No. 164 of 2024 represents Egypt’s first national legislation to grant refugees the right to apply for citizenship and to formally regulate the legal status of refugees and asylum seekers. It transfers the responsibility for registration and asylum management from UNHCR to the Permanent Committee for Refugee Affairs, which operates under the authority of the Prime Minister.
Under the new law, the Permanent Committee for Refugee Affairs is responsible for receiving and reviewing asylum applications, issuing refugee identity documents, and granting or revoking refugee status. While the law provides access to some basic rights, including education, healthcare, and employment, these are subject to specific conditions and limitations.
Article 2 of the promulgation provisions of Asylum Law No. 164 of 2024 states that the Prime Minister shall issue the executive regulations of the law within six months from the date of its publication in the Official Gazette. The Law relies heavily on the executive regulations to define the mechanisms for applying many of its provisions. These include:
- Procedures for issuing and renewing refugee identity cards, Article 11.
- Procedures for obtaining travel documents and defining eligibility, Article 12.
- Regulation of access to primary and university education, Article 20.
- Specification of access to health care and medical services, Article 21.
- Rules for the right to self-employment and the establishment of businesses, including conditions such as recognition of professional certificates and the issuance of temporary permits, Articles 18 and 19.
However, the law came into force the day after its publication. Since all these core rights and services are linked to the executive regulations, the failure to publish them at the time the law took effect created legal uncertainty. This created a significant legislative issue, as no executive or procedural instructions were issued to implement its provisions during that period. As a result, the absence of executive regulations left refugees in a legal vacuum.
The law was issued within a politically and security-sensitive context, during which the Egyptian government adopted a restrictive approach toward migrants and refugees. Its enactment coincided with growing cooperation between Egypt and the European Union on migration control. While it ends a long period of absence of domestic legislation addressing this issue, the process of adopting the law has been criticised for the lack of participation by civil society and affected communities.[10]
Instead of reducing the violations faced by refugees and asylum seekers in Egypt, addressing the legal shortcomings in the existing system, and bridging the protection gaps that refugee communities have endured for many years, several provisions of the law are inconsistent with the Egyptian Constitution and international treaties ratified by Egypt. It fails to uphold the rights of refugees and asylum seekers to international protection and is rooted in a security-based approach that expands the powers of the governmental committee established under the law, without sufficient legal safeguards or accountability mechanisms.
These issues have raised concerns that the law may have been introduced primarily in response to external political pressure, particularly criticism raised during Egypt’s third Universal Periodic Review in 2019[11], rather than out of a genuine intent to improve the situation of refugees within the country.
The shortcomings mentioned above cannot be amended or limited by the executive regulations that are still outstanding. Their function is limited to clarifying and implementing procedural and administrative matters. Therefore, fundamental shortcomings in the law itself, such as granting broad unchecked powers or restricting key rights, can only be addressed through formal legislative amendments.
The law grants the Permanent Committee wide discretionary powers to approve or reject asylum applications, without defined criteria and establishing a transparent appeals mechanism, which creates serious risks of refoulement and other rights violations in the absence of adequate procedural safeguards. The law also allows refugee status to be revoked without sufficient safeguards, which opens the door to potential rights violations.[12]
In its current form, the law represents a setback from the legal framework previously established through UNHCR’s operations in Egypt. Although not without shortcomings, the UNHCR system had provided a functioning basis for protection and refugee status determination for decades. The law contains no provisions regulating the transitional period between the handover of responsibilities from UNHCR to the new governmental committee. Nor does it specify which entity will be responsible for registering refugees and safeguarding their rights during this transition. While the law stipulates immediate entry into force and mandates the formation of the committee within three months, this deadline has already passed. The Egyptian government has not yet formed the Permanent Committee for Refugee Affairs.This is a clear violation of Article 3 and means there was no functional executive body to manage refugee affairs during this time, which led to evident administrative and legislative confusion.
Although the law clearly states that this committee is the body responsible for receiving and reviewing new asylum applications, at the time of writing the report, executive functions are still effectively carried out by UNHCR, which continues to receive and process applications—thereby exceeding the legal mandate granted to it—in the absence of an institutional Egyptian alternative to date.
At the same time, UNHCR has not officially announced the termination of its operations in Egypt, further contributing to the ambiguity and uncertainty surrounding the future of the asylum system in the country. The implementation of the new legal framework remains on hold pending the formation of the designated committee and the issuance of the executive regulations governing its work.
Given Egypt’s transitional asylum system, this report distinguishes between two distinct systems:
“Current Practice”: refers to the asylum system administered by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), which remains in effect in many respects at the time of writing.
“2024 Asylum Law”: refers to the new system to be established under the 2024 Aliens’ Right to Asylum Law, under which Egyptian authorities are expected to assume responsibility for asylum procedures and protection.
These two terms will be used consistently throughout the report to distinguish past and current practices under UNHCR from the legal and institutional framework envisaged under the Egyptian Aliens Asylum Law of December 2024.
[1] The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, available here
[2] The 1951 Refugee Convention, available here
[3] UNHCR: Handbook on Procedures and Criteria for Determining Refugee Status under the 1951 Convention and the 1967 Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees, available here
[4] Law No 172 of 1954, on the approval of the agreement concluded between Egypt and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), available here (AR)
[5] Presidential Decree No. 331 of 1980, On approving the United Nations Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, available here (AR)
[6] Presidential Decree No. 332 of 1980, On the approval of the Protocol amending the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, signed in New York in 1967, available here (AR)
[7] OAU Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of Refugee Problems in Africa, available here
[8] Presidential Decree No. 332 of 1980 on approving the Organization of African Unity Convention governing the various aspects of refugee issues in Africa, available here (AR)
[9] Law No 164 of 2024, available here (AR)
[10] The Refugees Platform in Egypt, ‘An in-depth analytical study of the draft law on foreign asylum’, November 2024, available here.
[11] Report of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, D.5: Migrants, refugees and asylum seekers, 62.
[12] The Refugees Platform in Egypt, ‘An in-depth analytical study of the draft law on foreign asylum’, November 2024, available here.