{"id":27045,"date":"2026-06-22T21:39:44","date_gmt":"2026-06-22T19:39:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rpegy.org\/?post_type=editions&p=27045"},"modified":"2026-06-22T21:39:44","modified_gmt":"2026-06-22T19:39:44","slug":"we-share-your-concerns-and-invite-you-to-contact-the-refugee-platform-in-egypts-digital-legal-clinic-preliminary-statement-from-the-refugee-platform-in-egypt-regarding-the-egyptian-govern","status":"publish","type":"editions","link":"https:\/\/rpegy.org\/en\/editions\/we-share-your-concerns-and-invite-you-to-contact-the-refugee-platform-in-egypts-digital-legal-clinic-preliminary-statement-from-the-refugee-platform-in-egypt-regarding-the-egyptian-govern\/","title":{"rendered":"We Share Your Concerns and Invite You to Contact the Refugee Platform in Egypt\u2019s Digital Legal Clinic.. Preliminary Statement From the Refugee Platform in Egypt.. Regarding the Egyptian Government\u2019s Issuance of Flawed Executive Regulations for the Law on Asylum for Foreigners"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Refugee Platform in Egypt shares the concerns and questions of forcibly displaced communities in Egypt regarding their conditions and the future of their various legal statuses, following the Prime Minister\u2019s sudden issuance on May 21st, 2026, of Decree No. 1568 of 2026 that issued the executive regulations for the Asylum Law for Foreigners No. 164 of 2024.<\/span><\/p>\n

The regulations were issued without any public dialogue, or the involvement of key stakeholders, specialized experts, or organizations working in the field of asylum and protection, foremost among them the UNHCR in Cairo that has managed, and continues to manage, the asylum system in Egypt for decades. Nonetheless, the UNHCR in Cairo was not consulted in the drafting of the regulations, and its previously expressed comments on the law itself were disregarded.<\/span><\/p>\n

The law also completely ignored the recommendations of the UN Special Rapporteurs in their communications with the Egyptian government regarding the law, its flaws, violations, and concerns surrounding it. Furthermore, the drafters of the regulations ignored the comments raised by UNHCR regarding the law itself.<\/span><\/p>\n

These implementing regulations reproduce the fundamental flaws that marred the Asylum Law itself; indeed, some of their provisions go so far as to impose even more restrictive measures and violations of basic protection standards. Additionally, some of these regulations actively contradict provisions of Egyptian law, constitutional guarantees, and Egypt\u2019s international obligations regarding the protection of forcibly displaced people and human rights. Like the law itself, the regulations adopt a primarily security- and administrative-based approach, without adequately addressing key protection issues and with a complete disregard for the existence of the active asylum system through which more than one million people have already registered. Meanwhile, the regulations do not provide a clear overview of the rights associated with the legal statuses granted and recognized through the already existing asylum system, or those that will be recognized through the new system.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

These concerns are growing amid the uncertainty surrounding the new institutional arrangements. As of the date of this statement, the process of forming the Standing Committee for Refugee Affairs, as stipulated in the law and regulations as the committee that is supposed to receive the files of more than 1.2 million asylum seekers and applicants as well as issue decisions regarding them, has not yet been completed. Only a decision to appoint a chairperson has been issued, without an official announcement regarding the appointment of remaining members, the committee\u2019s headquarters, its structure, its detailed operating procedures, or the standards of independence and impartiality that must govern its decisions.<\/span><\/p>\n

In contrast, the implementing regulations impose strict and unrealistic deadlines on individuals, on the transfer of files, and on the implementation of the new system. Simultaneously, the implementation process is delegated to what it calls the \u2018specialized subcommittee\u2019 for which no decisions have yet been issued regarding its formation or the definition and scope of its powers. Furthermore, no discussion regarding the case management system has been held with the \u2018ministries and relevant authorities\u2019.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

While legal experts and researchers at RPEGY continue to study the regulations issued by the Egyptian government, we reiterate that the Asylum Law, which was enacted despite its legislative flaws; its violations of constitutional; and international obligations, and the legislative ambiguity it has caused in the asylum system was enacted more than a year after the deadline set by the law itself. Moreover, the Asylum Law was enacted with the same legal and legislative flaws found in its draft along with additional discrepancies. All of these compounding factors led to ambiguity in Egypt’s asylum legal framework and resulted in the collapse of the protection system.<\/span><\/p>\n

The implementing regulations have entrenched these legal flaws, which were warned against by special rapporteurs of the United Nations and human rights organizations concerned with forcibly displaced people\u2019s rights, in the law.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The most significant of which are:<\/strong><\/p>\n