Firstly, an introduction: 

Between late December 2025 and the end of January 2026, the Refugee Platform in Egypt (RPEGY) observed an unprecedented escalation in official policies and practices towards refugees, asylum seekers, and migrants. The measures taken during this period went beyond being sporadic or incidental, morphing into a systematic pattern of disguised forced deportation, targeting forcibly displaced Syrian and Sudanese communities in particular in a number of Egyptian governorates.

This escalation comes within the context of heightened security measures coinciding with expanded Egyptian-European administrative cooperation in the areas of immigration and border control, reflecting a clear shift in the treatment of forcibly displaced people within the country and a sharp decline in the protection mechanisms available to them. 

Secondly, the report’s methodology: 

This report is based on a formal review of updates and reports published by RPEGY, as well as data and studies issued by local and international organizations and reliable press reports. The report also includes careful monitoring of relevant legal and policy changes and their direct impact on protection conditions.

At the field level, information was collected from primary sources, including reports from affected families; testimonies from survivors of detention; and information obtained by RPEGY from lawyers defending victims, in addition to a review of the legal support archives and files compiled by RPEGY’s legal clinic.

RPEGY handled all data in accordance with strict standards of verification and confidentiality, while ensuring the utmost degree of accuracy possible as well as providing the highest, necessary protection for witnesses and field sources.

Thirdly, background information and general context:

• General Context 

Since early 2024, the circumstances of refugees, asylum seekers, and migrants in Egypt have undergone a structural transformation within the protection system due to the passage of Asylum Law No. 164 of 2024. This law transferred the administration of asylum cases from a systematic process through the mandate of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to a national process through which power is concentrated in the hands of a government committee with a broad scope of jurisdiction, amid sharp criticism from international human rights organizations, UN experts, and the UNHCR itself.

A joint report by RPEGY and the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR) entitled ‘The Collapse of Egypt’s Protection for Refugees’, illustrates how this legislative shift was accompanied by an unprecedented escalation in mass arrests, arbitrary detention, forced deportation campaigns, and the “revocation” of protection for registered refugees, in a widespread violation of the principle of non-refoulement. Additionally, a number of UN special rapporteurs have warned that the new law, in its current form, contravenes Egypt’s international obligations and places asylum seekers in a ‘legal vacuum’ that allows for detention and deportation on vague grounds related to ‘national security’ and ‘public order’. 

• Background Information

Prior to the monitoring period covered by this report, RPEGY, human rights organizations, and journalists documented a marked expansion in campaigns of arrest, detention, and deportation from transit points and borders to major cities during 2024 and the first half of 2025. Through repeating patterns of confiscating UNHCR cards, ignoring refugee status, and deporting thousands of forcibly displaced Sudanese citizens fleeing the proxy war, the joint report highlighted these factors in what was described as ‘the practical collapse of Egypt’s asylum system’. This escalation coincided with a severe economic and social crisis taking place in Egypt alongside a noticeable rise in hate speech and incitement against forcibly displaced people in broadcast media and on social media, where forcibly displaced people’s presence was linked to the concurrent economic and social crises. These developments were documented by RPEGY along with reports published by international organizations as part of a wider, manufactured facilitation of the execution of harsher policies.

On a geopolitical and security level, these developments cannot be separated from the Egyptian-European formalized agreement on ‘migration and border management’, with funding packages exceeding €7.4 billion announced for Egypt between 2024 and 2027. Some of these packages include hundreds of millions of euros earmarked for migration management and border control projects, with at least €200 million directly allocated to projects for ‘combating irregular migration’ and ‘return and reintegration’. Human rights analyses and international organizations have warned that this model, based on ‘delegating’ the role of gatekeeper to European transit countries, makes the European Union and its member states partners perpetrators of these policies and therefore culpable for their material consequences, including arbitrary arrest; detention in inhumane conditions; and forced deportation to countries being actively destabilized such as Sudan. 

In this convoluted context, the collapse of the national protection system; the tightening of the legislative framework; and the politicization of asylum within the framework of financing and security cooperation arrangements with the European Union, the escalation observed between December 20th, 2025 and January 20th, 2026 comes at an intense episode in the broader trajectory of events. This report focuses on documenting this escalation as the most violent security campaign in years against refugees, migrants, and asylum seekers, with a particular focus on the targeting of forcibly displaced Sudanese and Syrian citizens, and the shift in patterns of abuse from the border to quotidian life within cities, including home raids, ambushes, and detention processes that in many cases end in deportation or the threat thereof.

This analytical section is based on accumulated reports from the RPEGY, as well as joint investigative reports and recent reports by international and regional organizations that place the current crackdown in a broader, interwoven political, legal, and security context. This context demonstrates how forcibly displaced people in Egypt find themselves at a dangerous impasse between repressive domestic policies and an external, neocolonial project based on ‘securitizing’ migration at the expense of the right to asylum and protection.

Data accumulated during 2024 and 2025 reveals recurring patterns of violations and practices affecting forcibly displaced people of different nationalities, indicating a systematic approach rather than isolated incidents. The crisis surrounding the renewal of residence permits, as well as chronic delays in registration, renewal appointments with the UNHCR and official authorities was instrumentalized to manufacturing a status of ‘violation’  for large numbers of forcibly displaced people on paper. Despite the authorities’ knowledge of the structural obstacles preventing forcibly displaced people from regularizing their legal status within the stipulated time frames.

Simultaneously, this pattern was accompanied by repeated violations, most notably: the confiscation of protection documents, including UNHCR cards, when migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers were detained. This practice effectively stripped many forcibly displaced people of their formal ‘refugee/asylum seeker’ status, which subsequently allowed for the execution of removal and deportation decisions made outside any effective framework of international protection or guarantees against refoulement. 

Arrests spread from border points and transit routes to major cities, through fixed and mobile checkpoints in streets, public transport stations, residential neighborhoods, and workplaces, thereby creating a climate of constant fear and restricting the livelihoods of asylum seekers, refugees, and migrants in their quotidian routines.

Moreover, this practice has affected forcibly displaced community structures systemically with the closure of or increasing restrictions on community schools and community-led initiatives, specifically Sudanese, Yemeni, Syrian and similar highly vulnerable communities, depriving large segments of the population of education, basic services, and alternatives for self-protection. As a result, this practice has intensified the structural vulnerability that these communities were already facing.

For forcibly displaced Syrian citizens, recent months have seen a gradual escalation in residency restrictions and legal settlement requirements, through the tightening of conditions for obtaining residency; the suspension of tourist residency renewals; and the requiring of security approvals as well as costly, complex procedures. This has effectively pushed tens of thousands of forcibly displaced Syrian citizens into a state of ‘forced legal irregularity’ despite being registered refugees or stable residents for years. This structural fragility in their legal status has placed forcibly displaced Syrian citizens in a position where they can be labeled as ‘violators’ at any moment through sudden inspections or stops in the streets, workplaces, and residences. Additionally, this structural fragility has increased their vulnerability to arrest, detention, and threats of deportation, rather than providing them with a minimum level of legal security through the asylum and residency system.

Similarly, the escalation against forcibly displaced Sudanese citizens reached a new peak at the end of 2025. An extensive investigative report, that RPEGY participated in, revealed that the authorities had significantly intensified the detention and deportation of forcibly displaced Sudanese citizens, to the extent that sources reported that some police stations in Cairo were sending reports of hundreds of people being deported weekly to Aswan in preparation for their return to Sudan. In our reports, RPEGY documented the detention of hundreds of forcibly displaced Sudanese citizens between April and August 2025 in the Greater Cairo, Alexandria, and Matrouh governorates. These documented figures were in addition to more than 1,500 cases of detention followed by deportation since August of the same year, in an upward trend that culminated at the end of 2025 with the largest forced deportation campaign of its kind.

These cases involved refugees, migrants, and asylum seekers carrying UNHCR cards; some of whom reported that their status cards were confiscated during detention, and that even their administrative files were altered or falsified to present them as people who were apprehended near the border without papers or formalized protection. This constitutes a flagrant violation of the principle of non-refoulement and of the fundamental procedural guarantees that ensure the right to an effective legal review prior to any deportation procedure.

These cases intersect with what was documented in correspondence from UN Special Rapporteurs and international human rights organizations in January 2026 regarding the unprecedented escalation in patterns of arbitrary detention and forced deportation of migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers, including those registered with UNHCR and holders of valid residence permits. Recent UN communications with the Egyptian government indicate a 121% increase in the arrest and detention of UNHCR-registered people between January-August 2024, reocurring during the same period in 2025, where estimates indicate that between 10,000 and 22,000 Sudanese registered refugees and asylum seekers were deported in 2024 with an escalating pattern that reached a new peak at the end of 2025.

Fourthly, the detailed context: hate speech on social media, an unprecedented security campaign, and new patterns of arrest, detention, and deportation:

• Conclusions of the Status Report:

Scope of the security campaign during the period of December 20th, 2025 to January 1st, 2026:

From December 20th, 2025, to January 1st, 2026, the circumstances of forcibly displaced people residing in Egypt entered an exceptional phase marked by an escalating and prolonged security crackdown, distinguished from previous waves of repression by its intensity and its temporal and geographical scope.

This period saw a marked increase in patterns of arrest, detention, and attempted deportation, including raids and break-ins into forcibly displaced people’s domiciles, the detention of women and children, reports of disappearances after arrests in the public sphere including on the street, public transport, and in metro stations, as well as the targeting of neighborhoods and areas known for their large communities of forcibly displaced Sudanese citizens and forcibly displaced citizens of various African countries. According to information documented by RPEGY, these practices are not understood as isolated actions by security personnel; but rather as part of a coordinated security approach in which instructions issued by senior ranks within the Interior Ministry are implemented across more than one sector and department concerned with immigration and public security. This approach was used to execute the campaign under the guise of ‘public policy’ rather than ‘exceptional measures’. 

Today, as part of the implementation of directives issued regarding joint campaigns and coordination with the National Security Sector and the Central Security Sector to examine the documents of foreigners residing in the country and inspect furnished apartments and their foreign residents, and to determine the legality of their residence within Egyptian territory and the validity of their residence permits issued to them, as well as the legality of their entry into the country.

Excerpt from an internal communication between security agencies of the Interior Ministry regarding developments in the security campaign against asylum seekers, refugees, and migrants in Egypt, December 2025

“Given the history of escalating security campaigns against foreigners in Egypt, including refugees, asylum seekers, and migrants, based on citizenship or color, and what the Refugee Platform in Egypt has documented in its reports, especially after the outbreak of destabilizing armed conflict in Sudan, communities believed that the crackdown at the end of December 2025 was part of this trend, but what January had in store made it the most severe campaign in recent years.”

Community Leader

Since approximately December 20th, 2025, RPEGYhas observed a sharp and continuous increase in the arrests of refugees, asylum seekers, and migrants. This crackdown was more severe and widespread than previous campaigns, mutating into an extended security campaign that has lasted for over a month. This escalation took the form of raids and break-ins into the homes of forcibly displaced people in some areas alongside dozens of arrests in the last week of December, including arrests of forcibly displaced people with valid or renewable residence permits. This escalation reflected an approach that views the very presence of forcibly displaced people as a ‘security issue’ regardless of the formalized legal status of residence permit holders.

In light of the history of escalating security campaigns against foreigners in Egypt, specifically forcibly displaced citizens of various African countries since the outbreak of the proxy war in Sudan, and as outlined in the general background of the report, forcibly displaced communities and witnesses initially interpreted the wave of raids in late December 2025 as merely another episode in a familiar pattern of discrimination based on nationality and/or skin color, as has been the case since late 2023. Nonetheless, the expansion of raids and ambushes within cities in early January 2026; the deliberate and specific targeting of forcibly displaced Syrian citizens, forcibly displaced Sudanese citizens, and forcibly displaced citizens of various countries in general; and the increasing number of physical or threatened deportations cemented this campaign as the most severe in recent years in terms of its scope and systematic nature. As a result, the report marks this particular period covered as a qualitative turning point in the Egyptian state’s relationship with forcibly displaced communities residing on its territory.

Digital attacks against forcibly displaced people included incitement, hate speech, misinformation, and attacks on advocates:

During January 2026, Egypt’s digital space witnessed an organized wave of hate speech and incitement against refugees, asylum seekers, and migrants that coincided with the security campaign on the ground and was used, in practice, to justify and normalize the campaign socially. RPEGY monitored intense activity on a large number of social media accounts, many of which had no clear identity or misleading profile information, deliberately spreading false or undocumented narratives about forcibly displaced people and linking their presence to crime and economic collapse. Moreover, these ‘accounts’ circulated individual incidents, real or fabricated, to turn public opinion against forcibly displaced communities on the basis of nationality and/or color.

This was accompanied by coordinated social media campaigns targeting civil society organizations and human rights activists working on asylum issues. Using hashtags and posts, these campaigns launched defamation attacks and accusations of ‘treason’ or ‘undermining national security’ against organizations that document violations against forcibly displaced people, including RPEGY and its partners. Additionally, a large number of new accounts were created and appeared within a short period of time, especially in the second half of January, sharing similar language patterns, content, and recycling the same content with minor modifications. These factors all reinforce the impression that an organized campaign was implemented to amplify hate speech and misinformation against forcibly displaced people; all of which is in direct contradiction to Egypt’s constitutional and international obligations to combat discrimination, hate speech, and incitement to violence.

Security Crackdown Targeting Forcibly Displaced Communities Everywhere:

• Attack Targeting Forcibly Displaced Syrian Communities Residing in Egypt:

At the beginning of January 2026, forcibly displaced Syrian citizens faced a series of developments that were a direct extension of this trajectory. A joint human rights statement issued by Egyptian and international organizations documented an unprecedented escalation in policies and practices toward forcibly displaced Syrian citizens residing in Egypt, through sudden administrative and legal changes accompanied by widespread security crackdown campaigns. The statement described what was happening as a policy of ‘disguised forced deportation’ that went beyond the mere ‘enforcement of residency rules’ and was aimed, in practice, at pushing forcibly displaced Syrian citizens to leave the country under pressure of fear of arrest, detention, and deportation. This policy was accompanied by widespread security checkpoints and raids in neighborhoods known for their forcibly displaced Syrian communities in Cairo, Giza, Alexandria, and elsewhere, with individuals and families being arrested in the streets and at their places of residence, work, and business on mere suspicion of not having valid residency permits. This has created a widespread wave of fear and a near-forced withdrawal from public spaces.

“This pattern represents a qualitative shift, as forcibly displaced Syrian communities in Egypt have not witnessed a security campaign of this magnitude and duration since the political changes in late 2013. The current crackdown has lasted for weeks, and involves ongoing arrests, deportation orders, and expulsions. While arrest campaigns against forcibly displaced Syrian citizens continue in Greater Cairo and Alexandria, the Refugee Platform in Egypt continues to receive reports of arrests of forcibly displaced Syrian citizens even as this report is being published.” 

Syrian Activist

Researchers reviewed visual evidence shared by targeted communities in various neighborhoods in Greater Cairo and Alexandria:

• Unprecedented Escalation Against Forcibly Displaced Sudanese Citizens Since Mid-January:

Since mid-January, RPEGY has recorded a new wave of escalation specifically targeting forcibly displaced Sudanese citizens. The campaign, which is still ongoing, has been characterized by the following: 

• The campaign focused on areas with a higher density of forcibly displaced Sudanese citizens, such as Faisal, Nasr City, and 6th of October City, as well as other neighborhoods in Greater Cairo and Alexandria known for their communities of forcibly displaced Sudanese citizens and forcibly displaced citizens of various African countries.
• The measures included daily search and stop campaigns, arresting individuals on the street, in front of their shops, or inside shared housing, as well as transferring hundreds in each area to police stations and detention centers in preparation for their return to border governorates or subsequent deportation arrangements.
• The arrests were random and without cause, as the gender, backgrounds, and ages of those arrested varied greatly.
• The campaign was characterized by its ferocity, with everyone arrested without exception, in large numbers, and transported in official and unofficial police cars to police stations and security camps near the place of arrest.
• Both uniformed and plainclothes security personnel participated in the campaign.
• The campaign covered all areas where forcibly displaced Sudanese citizens reside in Greater Cairo (and was concentrated in neighborhoods with larger concentrations of forcibly displaced Sudanese communities in Cairo and Giza).
• Expansion of Security Campaign Against All Nationalities:

The period under review witnessed a qualitative expansion in the security campaign against refugees, asylum seekers, and migrants in Egypt. It was no longer limited to one nationality or specific areas, but took on a broad character by simultaneously targeting several forcibly displaced communities in different governorates. Furthermore, there was a particular escalation in patterns of arrest, detention, and preparation for deportation against forcibly displaced Sudanese and Syrian citizens in particular. Field evidence gathered by RPEGY reflects a general pattern of unprecedented security escalation, akin to an integrated policy than to sporadic or circumstantial campaigns.

• Arrest Patterns: 
• Researchers documented widespread raids on shops, cafes, and restaurants run by or employing forcibly displaced people, particularly forcibly displaced Syrian and Sudanese citizens as well as stop-and-search campaigns in the neighborhoods where forcibly displaced communities reside in larger concentrations.
• This was not a security campaign limited to specific hours or days, but rather one that has continued for weeks on end at various times throughout the day.
• The campaign appeared to be nationwide, with reports of repeated arrests in different neighborhoods of Cairo, Giza, Alexandria, Hurghada, and other areas in southern/upper Egypt that involved forcibly displaced people of different ages and included children, students, women, and the elderly.
• The campaign included targeting and raiding the homes of asylum seekers, refugees, and migrants in various areas, including 6th of October City, Nasr City, Faisal, Katameya, Dokki, and Ard al-Lewa.
• The campaign included searches of apartments rented by forcibly displaced people in several police districts in Greater Cairo.
• Arrests included individuals registered with the UNHCR, some with valid or recently expired residence permits who were awaiting renewal procedures, as well as those with asylum cards that legally entitle them to obtain residence permits and those with registration appointments or who were awaiting residence permit issuance.
• The campaign included arrests on roads leading to or from areas and neighborhoods known for their high concentration of refugees, asylum seekers, and migrants, especially forcibly displaced Syrian citizens and forcibly displaced Sudanese citizens.
• The campaign included arrests at metro stations in Greater Cairo, according to reports from families as well as at microbus and public bus stops.
• This campaign also included arrests and detentions of people who were working or studying in schools, whether teachers or students, while security forces were documented storming Sudanese community schools in the areas of Faisal and Ard al-Lewa in Greater Cairo.
• The report also documented cases of detention of individuals who were attending a funeral after security personnel stormed the funeral.

Reports from forcibly displaced communities indicate that more than 5,000 people were arrested in the last two weeks alone.

• Reported Public Areas of Arrest

According to reports received by RPEGY and reports from forcibly displaced communities and families, the areas and neighborhoods targeted by arrest and detention campaigns during the reporting period were:

– Cairo: (Downtown/Wust al-Balad, Katameya, Mokattam, Matariya, and Ain Shams).

– Giza: (Dokki, Agouza, Haram, and Faisal, including Faisal’s Main Street and boroughs such as al-Talbiya, Ard al-Lewa, Boulaq al-Dakrour, some neighborhoods of 6th of October City, and Mohandessin – specifically Arab League Street).

– The campaigns also included cities on the outskirts of Greater Cairo, such as (Rehab City, Badr City).

– Sharqia: (Ramadan 10th City).

– Alexandria: (Miami, Muharram Bey, Borg al-Arab, Al Shatby, Smouha, Kilo 45).

– Arrests were also made in these governorates: (Aswan and Hurghada). 

• Reported Detention Sites Where Forcibly Displaced People Have Been Detained During the Aforementioned Period:

Police stations reporting the detention of forcibly displaced people:

In Cairo Governorate: Police stations (Nasr City’s First and Second Districts, al-Khalifa, First Settlement, Fifth Settlement, al-Matariya, Ain Shams, al-Marg, Maadi).

In Giza Governorate: Police stations (al-Agouza, Boulaq al-Dakrour, al-Talbiya, al-Ahram, 6th of October City’s Third District, Sheikh Zayed’s First District, al-Omraneya, Dokki, al-Munira al-Gharbia, al-Waraq, Imbaba).

In Aswan Governorate: Police stations (Aswan’s First and Second Districts, Nasr al-Nuba, Edfu, Abu Simbel), including forcibly displaced people who were already on their way to voluntarily return to Sudan.

Testimonies indicate that detained people were repeatedly transferred between these detention centers and those belonging to the National Security Agency and the Immigration, Passports, and Nationality Department in Abbasiya, which are affiliated with the Interior Ministry. These recurring transfers resulted in a complicated process that made it difficult for families and defense lawyers of detained people to track their whereabouts and intervene effectively to protect them. There have also been reports of forcibly displaced people being detained at the notorious Aswan Central Security Camp/Shalal Military Camp in Aswan governorate, particularly those being prepared for deportation by land to the border. The conditions in which these forcibly displaced people are being held raise serious concerns about respect for fundamental procedural guarantees; foremost among these concerns are the prohibition of refoulement and the right to effective legal review of any expulsion or deportation decision.

• Targeted Nationalities, Gender, and Age Groups 

The available data confirms that forcibly displaced Sudanese citizens were the most targeted group in arrest and detention campaigns during the monitoring period, followed by forcibly displaced Syrian citizens, then other nationalities whose arrests were recorded during the campaign including forcibly displaced Eritrean, South Sudanese, Cameroonian, Nigerian, Yemeni, and Ethiopian citizens. Testimonies indicate that the arrests included all age groups with documented cases of the detention of girls, women, and infants, specifically Syrian and Sudanese citizens, as well as the arrest of students of all genders at various educational levels; service workers of all genders in shops and restaurants; and the detention of entire families whose members were arrested from inside their residences. Despite this diversity in age, the largest demographic among those reported to have been arrested was young adults, which exacerbates the impact of the campaign on the livelihoods and economic capacity of these targeted forcibly displaced communities.

• Post-Arrest Processing

Tracking the post-arrest process reveals a disturbing procedural pattern that transforms detention from a judicial process subject to oversight into a closed administrative-security process, in which basic legal safeguards are undermined and the door is opened wide for forced deportation and disappearance. Legal follow-up files from the legal clinic at the RPEGY, along with testimonies from families and detained people themselves, point to a recurring pattern in most of the cases documented in this report.

• After arresting individuals, police cars transport them to an initial detention site, the police station, where they remain for several hours or overnight at most.
• RPEGY has documented several testimonies reporting that detained people were assaulted during their arrest for not complying and attempting to explain their legal situation to security campaign officers.
• Testimonies reported that a number of detained people were released before being registered in official records after paying the officers sums ranging from 2,000 to 5,000 Egyptian pounds, according to different testimonies.
• Many detained people are brought before the public prosecutor on charges related to ‘illegal’ residence in Egypt, while some personal documents that the detained people presented to the officers at the time of arrest, such as UNHCR cards or proof of an ongoing process to renew their residence permits, are withheld from the prosecutor.
• Researchers and lawyers documented multiple cases in which detained people stated that they had handed over their personal ID cards, UNHCR cards, and residence documents to police officers or security personnel at the time of their arrest, but these documents were not included in the documents presented to the prosecution and were not returned to them later. All of them were described as ‘illegal residents’, even though some of the cases documented in the report did in fact have valid residency permits.
• The Public Prosecutor’s Office issues decisions to release all those brought before it, appending the phrase ‘the relevant administrative authority is responsible for this matter’, the meaning of which will be explained later.
• Police stations do not implement the Public Prosecutor’s decision to release detained people who then remain in custody.
• In a tangible circumvention of the Public Prosecutor’s decision as well as a transfer of detention from judicial jurisdiction to a closed, administrative/security-based track, police stations detain those who were released pending referral to the ‘National Security Sector, the Immigration, Passports and Nationality Department, and the Department for Combating Illegal Immigration’, which constitutes administrative detention.
• The security administrations’ decisions to deport individuals are made without regard to their legal status, asylum status, age, or specific circumstances.
• The families of detained people are often informed by phone or verbally of the deportation decisions against their children, without being able to view these formal decisions, obtain copies of them, or exercise their right to judicial appeal before implementation. This effectively turns deportation decisions into secret procedures outside any framework of transparency or accountability.
• In other cases, families remain in a state of constant uncertainty about the fate of their loved ones after their loved ones’ arrest, without receiving any official information about their place of detention or the measures taken against them, which in some cases amounts to a pattern of enforced disappearance in a broad sense warned against officially by UN mechanisms.
• Detention Conditions

Reports and testimonies indicate that many refugees, asylum seekers, and migrants detained during the current security campaign are being held in extremely poor conditions, characterized by overcrowding and a lack of adequate medical care, thereby risking these forcibly displaced people’s lives as well as their physical and psychological well-being.

Families and lawyers who spoke to RPEGY explained that detained people are crammed into cramped cells with a severe shortage of sleeping space and ventilation; that have extremely poor hygiene; and a lack of adequate food and water. All these reported detention conditions align with previously documented patterns of detention conditions in Egypt in general, which international reports have described as ‘harsh and inhumane’ and were linked to deaths due to medical negligence.

These conditions are even more dangerous for the most dependent groups among detained, forcibly displaced people, specifically children, women, the elderly, and people with chronic illnesses or disabilities. According to testimonies from forcibly displaced Sudanese citizens, detention centers lack the most basic healthcare and necessary medications, therefore detained people suffering from heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, or respiratory diseases do not receive the necessary medical follow-up or treatment. In some cases, this amounts to a ‘slow death sentence’ as fear of deportation or reprisal prevents many detained, forcibly displaced people from reporting their deteriorating health condition or seeking medical assistance, as detained people in general are effectively denied access to independent complaint and oversight mechanisms. This renders the state directly responsible for exposing detained, forcibly displaced people to cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment prohibited under international law. 

• Deportation Procedures and Patterns

The forced deportation process begins with the individual being reclassified from a ‘legal refugee’ to a ‘lawbreaker’ by targeting them for arrest in ambushes or targeted security campaigns, ultimately ending in administrative detention in isolation from the outside world and without minimum legal guarantees. Once arrested, the individual is transferred to administrative detention in police stations, where they are denied communication with their families or lawyers or access to translation services, and may be brought before the public prosecutor without any legal protection as a result of this deprivation.

Although the public prosecutor in these cases often decides to release the detained person, the phrase ‘to the relevant administrative authority’ opens the door for the Passport Authority and various security agencies to impose a parallel process, whereby refugee status is ignored and the file is referred to the National Security Sector and the Department for Combating Illegal Immigration which then paves the way for a deportation order that bypasses the usual judicial process.

This is where the procedures begin, the detained person is presented to the Passport Authority and their corresponding file is presented to National Security, and orders are often issued to deport the detained person even if they hold formal refugee status. The individual is then presented to the Department for Combating Illegal Immigration; and this is where pressure escalates in the final stages by forcing detained people to sign ‘voluntary departure’ documents under the weight of detention or torture, the absence of legal options, or through the issuance of ‘administrative deportation decisions’ directly from sovereign authorities without presenting them to the judiciary. 

The process concludes with the material implementation of deportation, whether forcibly via air to the country of origin or by land across borders. These procedures are carried out without sufficient guarantees to protect individuals from the risks they may face after their return, transforming administrative procedures from regulatory tools into a ‘legal guillotine’ that rapidly and definitively ends the physical and legal existence of refugees. 

Fifthly, mixed reactions to the arrests:

The end of December 2025 and the beginning of January 2026 witnessed a series of conflicting positions regarding the campaign of arrests and detentions targeting forcibly displaced people, specifically Sudanese and Syrian citizens, reflecting a clear gap between official rhetoric and warnings issued by human rights organizations and experts. In early February, the Sudanese embassy in Cairo issued a circular calling on its citizens to carry their identity documents and ensure that they are valid accompanied by residence permits issued by the relevant Egyptian authorities, in a move that many Sudanese citizens interpreted as a response to security pressures rather than an actual guarantee of protection. 

Two days before the statement was released, during a press conference held on January 30th at the Sudanese embassy, the Sudanese diplomatic envoy downplayed the scale of the campaign, speaking of limited numbers of detained and deported people: 2,974 people deported in 2025 and 371 people deported as of January 28th, 2026. The envoy stated that the number of forcibly displaced Sudanese citizens arrested did not exceed 400. The envoy denied that the Sudanese government had made any official request to crack down on forcibly displaced Sudanese citizens residing in Egypt, in clear contradiction to what has been documented by journalists and experts who reported that thousands of forcibly displaced Sudanese citizens were detained and deported in recent months.

Simultaneously, human rights and media organizations have repeatedly warned of an ‘illegal crackdown’ on forcibly displaced Sudanese citizens residing in Egypt, arguing that the accelerated pattern of arrests and deportations constitutes a direct violation of refugee protection protocols and the principle of non-refoulement. They have called for an end to mass arrests and immediate deportations, and for detained people to be given access to lawyers and judicial appeal procedures.

With regard to forcibly displaced Syrian citizens, on January 22nd a joint human rights statement was issued by a number of organizations describing what is happening as a ‘disguised policy of forced deportation’ based on widespread security campaigns and sudden administrative and legal changes. The statement called for an end to arrests, detentions, and deportations based solely on residency status, and for the refraining from any decisions to deport or ‘forcibly remove forcibly displaced Syrian citizens and any other migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers who were placed in irregular legal situations due to informal procedures or structural obstacles beyond their control. 

Concurrently, official statements from Sudanese and regional officials reflected a discourse that tended to encourage return and linked it to the discourse of ‘rebuilding the homeland’, in parallel with assurances from official parties that Egypt ‘remains a safe haven’ for forcibly displaced Sudanese citizens. Meanwhile, human rights and UN reports documented an unprecedented escalation in patterns of arbitrary detention and forced deportation of forcibly displaced Sudanese and Syrians citizens as well as forcibly displaced citizens of various countries residing on Egyptian soil. Statements and declarations have also been issued by Sudanese activists in exile and by political and community entities warning of the harassment and targeting of forcibly displaced Sudanese citizens in Egypt, calling on the Egyptian authorities to respect their national and international obligations while additionally calling for the protection of forcibly displaced people from politicization and exploitation in the internal Sudanese context.

Sixthly, the impact of the campaign on immigrant communities in Egypt:

Intensive security campaigns in areas where forcibly displaced people congregate have created a state of ‘forced isolation’, with communities retreating into their homes for fear of arrest. This has led to children not attending school, sick people refraining from seeking medical care, and the disruption of cultural activities that gave these forcibly displaced communities their vitality. This isolation was not only socially bound but also resulted in a deep psychological crisis that robbed individuals of their sense of security. Moreover, this psychosocial crisis transformed Egypt’s image from a ‘safe haven’ to an environment shaped by terror; fear of the unknown; and the shock of Egypt suddenly mutating from a safe haven to a hunting ground. Fundamentally speaking, the crisis formed through the pressure of deportation being applied at any moment to forcibly displaced people.

These measures also left deep wounds that tore apart the fabric of forcibly displaced families. Illegal deportation decisions caused forcibly displaced families to be scattered and breadwinners to be separated from their loved ones. The difficulty of communicating with or providing legal support to detained people in distant locations only added to the trauma. 

“This is a death sentence”

Detained Person’s Testimony

Forced deportation decisions are tantamount to a ‘death sentence’ when carried out against forcibly displaced people fleeing destabilizing violence or political persecution. Forcing a forcibly displaced person to return to areas of proxy wars, as in the cases of Sudan and Syria, means condemning their citizens to a certain fate of indiscriminate bombardment and the total collapse of their livelihoods.

This measure constitutes a flagrant violation of the principle of non-refoulement, which prohibits the surrender or return of refugees to a country where their lives are at risk. The measure converts administrative deportation procedures from a mere legal regulation of residence into an outright death sentence lacking the minimum judicial guarantees.

Furthermore, deportation takes the form of a ‘slow killing’ when it targets dependent groups throughout forcibly displaced communities; as deporting chronically ill people to countries with collapsed health systems leads to the interruption of their treatment and certain death, while women and children are left vulnerable to physical exploitation or starvation in the absence of family or safety.

“These developments demonstrate that the period from December 20th, 2025, to early January 2026 is not just a ‘passing phase’ of repression, but a turning point in the transition of the security crackdown against forcibly displaced people to a higher level of organization that broadens the scope of targeting and integrates legal, judicial, and security apparatuses into a single process, which facilitates detention and deportation while reducing opportunities for effective legal defense of victims.”

Legal Clinic Specialists for the Refugee Platform in Egypt

Seventhly, serious violations of the Egyptian Constitution, Egyptian law, and Egypt’s ratified international obligations:

The recent security crackdown involves a series of serious violations of the Egyptian constitution and ratified international obligations undertaken by the state under Article 93 of the Egyptian constitution, which states: ‘The state shall be bound by the international human rights conventions, covenants, and treaties ratified by Egypt, which shall become law after their publication in accordance with the prescribed procedures’. 

These practices therefore contravene Egypt’s obligations under the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol, in particular the principle of non-refoulement, which prohibits the return of any person to a country where they may be at risk of harm to their life or freedom. Moreover, these practices contravene the principles of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which prohibits arbitrary detention and obliges state signatories to guarantee the right to effective judicial review of decisions depriving a person of their liberty and deportation. Furthermore, the widespread use of administrative detention in immigration cases, without a clear time limit or basic procedural guarantees such as the right to contact a lawyer; the right to notify family members; and the right to access the UNHCR, is contrary to international conventions that emphasize that the detention of asylum seekers, migrants, and refugees should be an exceptional measure, resorted to as a last resort and as narrowly as possible. 

The most notable violations can be summarized as follows:

• Arbitrary Arrest and Detention:
• The Egyptian Constitution prohibits arrest, search, or detention without a valid judicial order, and requires that detained people be brought before a judicial authority within a specified period of time and be given the opportunity to challenge the legality of their detention. The continued detention of refugees, asylum seekers, and migrants without clear judicial authorization, or in disregard of the public prosecutor’s decisions to release them, constitutes a direct violation of Article 54 of the Constitution and the provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure.
• On an international level, this constitutes a violation of Article 9 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which prohibits arbitrary arrest or detention and requires a clear legal basis and the possibility of judicial review of the legality of detention.
• Enforced Disappearance and Denial of Contact with Family and Legal Counsel:
• Transferring detained people between different detention centers as well as denying their families and lawyers knowledge of their whereabouts and communication with them for extended periods of time is tantamount to enforced disappearance, which alternate reports submitted to the Committee Against Torture (CAT) have cautioned against while describing the conduct as unconstitutional, contrary to the Code of Criminal Procedure, and criminalized under Egyptian law itself (arrest without a warrant).
• These practices also violate Egypt’s obligations under the International Covenant (Articles 9 and 14) and the Convention against Torture, which emphasize the need for accurate records of detained people while ensuring that they can communicate with their families and lawyers as a safeguard against torture and mistreatment.

• Shifting the Process From Judicial to Administrative/Security-Based and Closed:

• Systemically refusing to implement the prosecutor’s decisions to release people and keeping them in detention on the grounds of ‘presenting them to the administrative/security authorities’ transforms deprivation of liberty into arbitrary administrative detention that is not subject to effective judicial oversight, which violates the Constitution, the Code of Criminal Procedure, and the fundamental guarantees of a fair trial.
• This practice also contravenes the United Nations principles on the administrative detention of asylum seekers, migrants, and refugees, as well as Article 9 of the International Covenant, which requires that the legality of detention be effectively challenged before a competent judge.

• Forced Deportation and ‘Voluntary’ Return (Violation of the Principle of Non-Refoulement):

• Deporting refugees, asylum seekers, and migrants—including forcibly displaced Sudanese, Eritrean, and Syrian citizens—to countries experiencing destabilizing violence or political sanctioning, or threatening them with deportation to force them to ‘voluntarily’ return, is a direct violation of the principle of non-refoulement, which is a peremptory norm of international law.
• Egypt is bound by this principle under:
• The 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and the 1967 Protocol.
• The 1969 Organization of African Unity Convention on Refugees.
• The Convention against Torture (Article 3).
• The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (Articles 6 and 7, as interpreted by the UN Committee).
• Recent UN reports on Egypt have confirmed that the current patterns of detention and deportation constitute ‘a direct and serious violation of the principle of non-refoulement’ and cannot be justified on grounds of ‘national security’ or ‘combating irregular migration’. 

• Unfair Trials and Lack of Procedural Safeguards:

• Withholding protection documents (UNHCR cards, proof of application for residence renewal) from the prosecution and presenting individuals as ‘residence violators’ without enabling them to prove their legal status undermines their right to defense and constitutes a violation of the principle of equality of arms and the right to a fair trial.
• This practice contravenes Articles 96 and 97 of the Egyptian Constitution, which guarantee the right to defense and a fair trial, and Article 14 of the International Covenant, which guarantees the right of every person to a fair and public trial as well as the right to examine evidence and present evidence proving their innocence or legal status.

• Violation of the Right to Liberty, Security, and Freedom of Movement:

• Widespread campaigns of arrest based on nationality or skin color, and checkpoints targeting specific neighborhoods and residents of specific nationalities, undermine the right to freedom of movement and non-discrimination guaranteed by the Egyptian Constitution and the International Covenant (Articles 2, 12, and 26 of the Covenant).
• Targeting refugees, asylum seekers, and migrants on this basis also constitutes prohibited discrimination under the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, which Egypt has ratified and which obliges signatory states to take effective measures to prevent incitement to hatred and discrimination.

• Violation of the Right to Physical Safety and Prohibition of Torture and Misreatment:

• The extremely poor conditions of detention and the lack of adequate medical care, especially for the dependent groups, render the authorities responsible for violating the prohibition of cruel, inhumane, or degrading treatment, as stipulated in the Egyptian Constitution, the Convention against Torture, and the International Covenant.
• Previous reports by the Committee Against Torture and human rights organizations have found that patterns of torture and mistreatment in detention facilities affiliated with the Interior Ministry are ‘systemic’, making the continued detention of refugees, asylum seekers, and migrants in these facilities, without safeguards or oversight, doubly at risk of prolonged violation of their fundamental human rights.

• Violation of the Right to Asylum and Obligations Towards Refugees:

• Measures that effectively impede access to asylum procedures; suspend registration; withdraw protection from those registered with UNHCR; or disregard their legal status during deportation violate Egypt’s treaty obligations under the 1951 Refugee Convention and its Protocol, the Organization of African Unity Convention on Refugees, and the memorandum of understanding concluded with UNHCR.
• Furthermore, using the new asylum law in a manner that facilitates exclusion and deportation rather than expanding protection contradicts the ethos of Article 93 of the Egyptian Constitution, which recognizes the primacy of international human rights conventions and obliges the Egyptian state to respect them.

These cumulative violations make the recent security crackdown against forcibly displaced people residing in Egypt a glaring example of the prioritization of a security approach over the state’s constitutional and international obligations. Additionally, they illustrate the national and international bearing of legal and political responsibility, particularly with respect to enforced disappearances, widespread arbitrary detention, and forced return to countries in the midst of destabilizing violence, persecution, or political sanctions.