Despite the spiralling war in nearby Sudan—where reports of massacres and widespread starvation have grabbed global attention—Egypt remains poised to adopt a new asylum law that will threaten access to protection for those fleeing the conflict. The law will also allow for arbitrary detention and refoulement based on migration status and without full consideration of a person’s individual protection needs. These developments could lead to massive increases in Egypt’s ongoing detention and deportation efforts—which have already ensnared thousands of Sundanese children, women, and men since late 2023—and further fuel Sudan’s humanitarian crisis.
In response, the international community has stepped up calls for Egypt to change course in its treatment of refugees and other vulnerable migrants, including civil society campaigns that have included important inputs from the Global Detention Project and its partners, as well as appeals from UN human rights monitoring bodies.