GENEVA (6 March 2026) – UN experts* today expressed
alarm over an intensifying campaign of deportations,
arbitrary arrests and human rights violations targeting
refugees, asylum seekers and migrants in Egypt — including
individuals at risk of human trafficking.
According to
official figures, 1.5 million Sudanese nationals have fled
to Egypt as of 29 January 2026. By December 2025, 1,098,311
refugees and asylum seekers were registered with the UN
Refugee Agency (UNHCR), including 834,201 Sudanese and
117,364 Syrians, the majority of whom are women and
children.
“We remain deeply concerned about the
situation of refugees and asylum seekers in Egypt,” the
experts said. “Practices of arbitrary arrest and
deportations continue, with refugee communities being
targeted in their homes, workplaces and even in
refugeeled service centres.”
The experts noted
that Egypt’s new asylum law, adopted on 16 December 2024,
raised immediate concerns
due to provisions that could undermine the rights and
protections of migrants, refugees and asylum seekers. Those
concerns intensified in October 2025 amid a surge in arrests
and deportations — particularly of Sudanese nationals —
often based solely on alleged residence permit violations.
Deportations were reportedly carried out without
individualised assessments to determine the risk of
refoulement.
Advertisement – scroll to continue reading
In recent months, the experts have
received reports of a sharp rise in arrests and deportations
of Syrian nationals, including families. Many were detained
for allegedly lacking valid residence permits, sometimes
despite being registered with UNHCR or carrying documents
proving they were in the process of renewing their
permits.
“This climate of fear exposes refugees,
asylum seekers and migrants to extreme precarity,” they
said. “With limited access to sustainable livelihoods,
many are at heightened risk of exploitation, including
trafficking for sexual exploitation, particularly affecting
women and girls, and forced labour and domestic servitude,
while others struggle in the face of particular protection
risks, including women and girls’ survivors of
gender-based violence and LGBT persons.”
The experts
expressed alarm over the risk of refoulement for both
“documented” and “undocumented” individuals who fled
to Egypt seeking protection from conflict, persecution and
humanitarian crises in their home countries.
“We
remind Egypt that any return or deportation order must be
based on an individual assessment of protection needs and
human rights obligations,” they said. “This includes
strict adherence to the principle of nonrefoulement, the
best interests of the child, non-discrimination, and the
right to family life.”
The experts are in contact
with the Government of Egypt on this issue.
*The
experts:
- Siobhán Mullally, the Special
Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially women and
children - Graeme Reid, the Independent
Expert on protection against violence and discrimination
based on sexual orientation and gender
identity - Gehad Madi, the Special
Rapporteur on the human rights of
migrants - Claudia Flores(Chair), Ivana
Krstić (Vice-Chair), Dorothy Estrada-Tanck, Haina Lu, and
Laura Nyirinkindi, Working
Group on discrimination against women and
girls
