The Refugees Platform in Egypt (RPE) issues this paper to analyze the aforementioned decision. It examines and analyzes the framework of public policies, including local laws and decisions related to migration and asylum and their issues within the Egyptian legal system, and in light of international law and human rights rules, and Egypt’s obligations under international and regional conventions by signature and ratification.

The paper starts by clarifying the specific and general legal framework of this decision and the laws and decisions related to it, underscoring the contradictions between them and the obligations imposed on Egypt by international conventions. Furthermore, the paper emphasizes the lack of clarification in the decree regarding some definitions and procedures and its failure to impose genuine protection policies.

This is the RPE’s second paper in its project “Studying Egyptian Public Policies on Migration and Asylum Seeking at the Borders and Inside Cities.” The first paper, titled “Harsher Penalties and (Undocumented) Migration: Legal Crossroads and Everyday Problems,” was issued in March of 2022 on the amendments to Law No. 82.

Table of Contents

Introduction

1. General Framework: The Decision to Establish the Fund is at the Intersection with Legislations Related to Border Management, Migration, Provision of Protection, and Accountability
2. Special Framework: From 2021 to Date: Legislative and Administrative Developments  that Have Adopted Security Solutions to Restrict Irregular Migration, Militarize, and Manage the Borders
3. Arrest Campaigns and Trials Lacking Fair Trial Requirements Along with the Adoption of Measures in Cases Related to Facilitation of Irregular Migration 
4. The Decision to Establish a Fund to “Combat Illegal Migration and Protect Whistleblowers and Witnesses” Between Human Rights Demands and Attempts to Issue the Decree
5. The Refugees Platform in Egypt’s Analysis of Prime Ministerial Decree No. 369 of 2023 Establishing a Fund for “Combating Illegal Migration and the Protection of Whistleblowers and Witnesses”

Part I: Analysis of Resolution Text

Part II: Cardinal Justice and Protection-Related Matters Overlooked By the Legislator

Part III. The Decree’s Effectiveness Amid Legislative Contradiction and the Criminalization of Irregular Migrants in Other Laws and Decisions

Recommendations of the Refugees Platform in Egypt to the Egyptian Legislator, the Cabinet, and the Public Prosecution

Read the full paper here