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Press Release
Refugees Platform in Egypt (RPE)
Cairo – 12 August 2025
The Refugees Platform in Egypt(RPE) received, with deep sorrow and outrage, the news of the death of Sudanese national Mujahid Adel Mohamed Ahmed on the evening of Friday, 8 August, inside the Third October Police Station (known as Al-Ahram Police Station) in Giza Governorate. He died due to complications from diabetes after being held for 21 days in harsh and inhumane conditions, and being denied access to necessary medical care.
According to information received by the Platform, Egyptian authorities arrested Mujahid Adel Mohamed Ahmed — a Sudanese citizen born in Dongola and formerly employed at Khartoum Airport — without legal basis, on the pretext of not possessing a valid residence permit. He was taken to the Third October Police Station in the city of 6th of October and held in conditions that failed to meet basic human standards. While in custody, he was denied his right to medical treatment, despite suffering from diabetes. Mujahid had only recently arrived in Egypt to accompany his father, who suffers from the same illness.
Although his family presented all documents proving both his legal status and his chronic health condition, Egyptian security forces refused to release him. They informed his family of an informal, non-documented decision to deport him to Sudan — without providing any official order that would have enabled them to appeal the decision. He was denied the opportunity to file an asylum claim, despite Sudan’s ongoing catastrophic situation characterised by insecurity, the collapse of the health system, and one of the worst humanitarian crises in its modern history.
Mujahid’s health deteriorated during his detention. He received no urgent or proper medical intervention and died in a cell lacking the most basic healthcare provisions. His family later retrieved his body and buried him after completing the burial permit procedures through the Public Prosecution.
The circumstances of Mujahid Adel’s detention — including deprivation of healthcare and the deliberate neglect of his medical needs — constitute a blatant violation of Egyptian law, which explicitly guarantees the rights of detainees to appropriate treatment, particularly those with chronic illnesses. They also amount to breaches of Egypt’s obligations under international treaties, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Convention against Torture, and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, all of which require states to ensure adequate healthcare for detainees and prohibit cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment.
This incident is not an isolated case. It adds to a broader pattern of violations documented by the Platform against Sudanese refugees in Egypt, which include arbitrary arrest, home raids, child detention, forced deportation, denial of the right to seek asylum, detention in degrading and inadequate facilities, medical neglect, and the denial of access to legal representation. Just days ago, the Platform called on the Egyptian Ministry of Interior to urgently review the cases of detained refugees with medical conditions — but the absence of any meaningful action has now cost another human life that could have been saved.
This death — alongside similar incidents — reflects the deadly reality of detention in Egypt, where deliberate medical neglect is used as a tool of intimidation, allowing the deterioration of detainees’ health or leaving them to die. Such conditions affect both citizens and non-citizens alike, making it impossible to credibly designate Egypt as a “safe country” for refugee returns or temporary detention. This necessitates the removal of Egypt from all “safe country” lists — whether by unilateral decisions of individual European states or by broader European Union measures.
We extend our deepest condolences to the family, friends, and loved ones of Mujahid Adel, and express our profound sorrow at the continuation of such violations against Sudanese refugees and migrants in Egypt. Arbitrary arrest, inhumane detention conditions, and health neglect have become recurring elements in the ongoing oppression of Sudanese refugees, intensifying their suffering and constantly endangering their lives.
In light of this tragedy, and to prevent further repetition of such crimes, the Refugees Platform in Egypt urgently calls for:
- An immediate, independent investigation into the circumstances of Mujahid Adel Mohamed Ahmed’s death, and accountability for those responsible for the medical neglect and arbitrary actions against him.
- The immediate release of all detained refugees, asylum seekers, and migrants, with full access to asylum procedures and essential protection services.
- The provision of urgent and adequate medical care in all detention facilities, and thorough investigations into all cases of medical neglect in Egyptian prisons.
- A complete halt to all forced deportations that endanger the lives of refugees and asylum seekers, particularly those from conflict and humanitarian crisis areas.
- The removal of Egypt from all “safe country” lists in states that have adopted such a classification, and an end to any future efforts to designate it as such.
The Refugees Platform in Egypt reaffirms its commitment to exposing these violations and demanding justice, until refugees and migrants are guaranteed full rights to protection, safety, and human dignity.
