Following three days of intensive debate, on Tuesday the House of Representatives approved a draft law which establishes a legal framework regulating the status, rights, and obligations of refugees.

The 39-article bill proposes the creation of a permanent committee for refugee affairs to handle refugee-related matters, including managing data and statistics. The committee will be affiliated with the Prime Minister’s Office and headquartered in Cairo. In coordination with the Foreign Ministry, it will be responsible for processing asylum requests, cooperating with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and providing support, care and services to refugees.

The law’s executive regulations, scheduled to be issued in six months, will provide additional details of the committee’s powers and mandate.

Under the law, asylum requests will be submitted to the committee by asylum seekers or their legal representatives. The committee will make a decision on the request within six months for those who entered the country legally, and within a year for those who entered illegally.

Asylum requests submitted by people with disabilities, the elderly, pregnant women, unaccompanied children, and victims of human trafficking, torture and sexual violence will be given priority.

Under the bill, refugee status carries three obligations. Refugees must observe Egypt’s constitution, laws, and regulations and respect Egyptian values and traditions. They must not engage in any activity that might harm national security and public order or violate the goals and principles of the United Nations, the African Union, the Arab League or any other organisation of which Egypt is a member and must refrain from any hostile act targeting their country of origin or other countries. Third, refugees must not engage in political or partisan activity, work within trade unions or found, join, or participate in any political party.

In cases in which the committee rejects an application for refugee status, it will request the concerned ministry to deport the asylum seeker.

Should refugee status be revoked, the subject will also be deported. Should it be discovered refugee status has been obtained through fraud, deceit or the withholding of information, or if the refugee is found to have violated the legal obligations stipulated by the law, he/she can face imprisonment for no less than six months and/or a fine ranging from LE50,000 to LE100,000.

The bill defines a refugee as a foreigner living outside the country of his/her nationality due to justified fear of being persecuted on the grounds of race, religion, nationality or belonging to a particular social group, because of political opinions, external aggression or occupation or other events that threaten public security in the country of his/her nationality or usual residence.

The law was approved by MPs despite criticism from a number of human rights organisations. In a joint statement on 15 November, 22 local and foreign human rights NGOs claimed the bill contravenes international law and the Egyptian constitution and was drafted, discussed and passed in a manner that ignored stakeholders, including refugee communities and their representatives and human rights and UN organisations.

In a statement, the NGOs complained that “the law gives the proposed permanent committee for refugee affairs absolute powers in overseeing the asylum process which could result in a reduction of protection levels available to refugee population in Egypt” and raised concerns about the independence of a committee headed by the prime minister, containing representatives of other cabinet ministers, and directly funded by the state.

“The law gives the committee the right to take ‘whatever measures it deems necessary’ towards refugees,” said the statement, thus threatening existing refugee protections.

The new law also faced criticism on social media, with many complaining that services provided to refugees will be expensive and come at the expense of Egyptians.

A report prepared by the House’s Defence and National Security Committee said that in 2023 Egypt ranked third in the world in terms of the number of refugees, migrants and asylum seekers it was hosting. Between nine and 10 million refugees from 133 countries currently live in Egypt, equivalent to 8.7 per cent of the total population. According to head of the House’s Budget Committee Fakhri Al-Fiqi, the hosting of refugees costs Egypt more than LE300 billion —around $6 billion — each year.

In response, head of the Defence and National Security Ahmed Al-Awadi said the new law is the first piece of domestic legislation to regulate the affairs of refugees and asylum seekers in Egypt in accordance with international agreements, most notably the 1951 Geneva Convention.

Al-Awadi told MPs on Sunday that the bill reflected Egypt’s respect for human rights and commitment to international conventions and agreements and that, while acknowledging the high cost of hosting migrants “the government, in coordination with parliament, could not ignore the fact that Egypt has become a safe haven for millions fleeing wars and conflicts in neighbouring African and Arab countries like Sudan, Syria, Lebanon, Yemen, and Somalia.”

Al-Awadi underlined that the law will treat refugees on an equal footing with Egyptians.

“Refugees will not live in isolated areas or in camp cities but will be part of Egyptian society as long as they respect domestic laws and social values,” said Al-Awadi.

He dismissed suggestions that the law gives the committee absolute powers and that the committee is not an impartial entity.

The committee is mandated with deciding on asylum requests but in case of rejection, asylum seekers will have the right to appeal the decision before the Administrative Justice Court, said Al-Awadi, who stressed that one of the committee’s main tasks is to gather correct information and statistical data on the numbers of refugees, migrants, and asylum seekers living in Egypt.

He also dismissed reports that drafting and discussion of the new law were rushed.

Discussions began two months ago in coordination with the Foreign Ministry and UNHCR, he said.

Al-Awadi also underlined that under the law, refugees will be entitled to obtain a travel document issued by the Interior Ministry, perform religious rites, own fixed and movable assets, be employed, receive healthcare, and have access to basic education.

* A version of this article appears in print in the 21 November, 2024 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly under the title: A legal framework for refugees