Author: Aisha Noor
December 30, 2024
HRRC is deeply concerned by Egypt's new asylum law and urges government authorities to amend this law as soon as possible to meet the standards of international human rights law on refugees and asylum seekers.
News Brief
A newly approved draft asylum law in Egypt may put refugees and asylum seekers in the country at risk of human rights violations under international law. The bill passed Egypt’s parliament on November 19, 2024 without proper consultation with relevant civil society members or the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR). It is awaiting final approval from Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.
This proposed law would be Egypt’s first time having a standalone asylum policy negating all rights of those seeking asylum and will severely hamper the operations of humanitarian organizations. The draft law displaces responsibilities for asylum to a new organization – a Permanent Committee for Refugee Affairs operating in cooperation with the UNHCR. However, given elements of the law – for instance the lack of paramount safeguards in relation to provision of the protection and services such an environment – is likely to be developed where asylum seekers are suddenly without legal protections.
Concerns are that loopholes are broadly conceived on ambiguous grounds which can be used to reject the asylum or undo the status of a refugee, meaning that people may be arbitrarily deported or detained. The law also requires refugees to commit acts that are not well defined, like avoiding political activities and embracing Egyptian values, with potential penalties in the form of fines or imprisonment for failing to meet these standards. These provisions are against the UN Refugee Convention concerning freedom of speech and assembly.
The law also prohibits other countries from the unauthorized arrival and aid of refugees within Egypt. This provision is particularly concerning given the fact that civil society organizations play a critical role in providing support to the most vulnerable. In addition, the law lacks procedural minimums, including the right to counsel or the right to challenge the detention of refugees, which could improve the chances of receiving justice. Furthermore, ‘pen-able’ measures allow for the possibility to regulate asylum rights in the name of security. The same is true of unofficial assistance to asylum seekers as per article 37 of the draft law, which makes employing or hiding an asylum seeker without reporting this to the police punishable by fine and no less than six months in prison.
Broadly couched emergency measures would permit the government to enact any “measures and procedures” it deems expedient with regard to asylum seekers for purposes of preservation of “national security and public order” in war, or in the fight against terrorism or “serious or exceptional circumstances.” It is quite clear that such powers, which are wider than the UN Refugee Convention’s “provisional measures” in article 9, may indeed reverse the idea of the asylum right as such.
“EU and member-state partners must urge Egyptian authorities to change the law as per presently prevailing international legal norm that includes human rights protection within its migration cooperation with Egypt; otherwise, such partners would be compounding human rights violations.”
Sources