The Official Gazette published Prime Minister Mustafa Madbouli’s decision to issue the executive regulations for the new asylum law on Monday, which governs the status of refugees and asylum-seekers and their rights and obligations.
President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi ratified the law in December 2024 after it was approved by the House of Representatives that November. The law includes 39 articles, in accordance with international agreements ratified by Cairo.
According to the Gazette, the issuing of the executive regulations for the law “is a step aimed at completing the legislative and regulatory framework for the asylum system in Egypt” and applies to refugees and asylum-seekers issued with cards by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) office in Egypt before Madbouli’s decision.
Head of the House’s Defence and National Security Committee Ahmed Al-Awadi said that the law’s executive regulations balance considerations of national security with international obligations and humanitarian covenants to which Cairo is a signatory.
“The regulations set out a clear and time-bound roadmap for regulating the status of residents holding refugee cards issued by the UNHCR office in Egypt. It was decided that the current cards would remain valid until their expiry date or until the Permanent Committee for Refugee Affairs issues new national registration documents and cards, whichever comes first,” he said.
However, “the law stipulated in December 2024 that the regulations should be issued within six months of the date of its implementation, but this was not achieved until Prime Minister Madbouli’s decision was issued and published in the Official Gazette on Monday,” Al-Awadi said.
Under the new regulations, the Permanent Committee for Refugee Affairs is the sole body in charge of regulating the affairs of refugees and asylum-seekers in Egypt. It will impose strict time and security restrictions on asylum-seekers, especially any who have entered the country illegally.
These are required by the regulations to voluntarily submit an asylum application to the committee within a maximum of 45 days from the date of their entry or face deportation procedures.
The regulations stipulate that an asylum-seeker must sign seven legally binding declarations, including a security declaration stating that they have not committed any serious crimes before entering Egypt, or have been members of terrorist groups, or have committed war crimes or crimes against humanity, or have carried or used weapons outside the framework of the law.
On the procedural level, the regulations grant the Permanent Committee a maximum of six months to decide on asylum applications submitted by those who have entered the country legally. This period is extended to a year for those who have entered illegally.
The validity of refugee and asylum-seeker cards issued by the UNHCR will continue until their expiry date or until the Permanent Committee issues the new documents and registration cards stipulated in the executive regulations, whichever is the sooner.
The regulations require refugees and asylum-seekers to submit their current cards to the Permanent Committee at least one month before their expiry date in order for the necessary procedures to be taken.
They also oblige those whose documents expired before Madbouli’s decision came into effect to notify the committee within six months of the effective date in order to adjust their status in accordance with the provisions of the law and regulations.
The committee shall receive all data pertaining to asylum-seekers who have previously applied to the UNHCR, in addition to data on refugees who have obtained official recognition from the UNHCR before the issuance of the regulations, within a period not exceeding six months from the date of the implementation of Madbouli’s decision.
The regulations include provisions that grant the authorities control over the movement of refugees, as these must notify the committee of any changes in their places of residence or means of communication within 24 hours.
Article 26 of the regulations allows the committee, in circumstances of war or counter-terrorism, to take measures that include limiting a refugee’s residence to a specific geographical area or prohibiting his or her entry into border areas and obliging him or her to obtain prior permission to travel between governorates or abroad.
Article 3 of the regulations stipulates the establishment of a central database that includes biometric data for all refugees to ensure security monitoring.
On the rights side, Article 22 of the regulations stipulates the right of refugees to obtain the same preventive, curative, and emergency health services provided to Egyptian citizens, and Article 23 facilitates access to basic education for asylum-seeking children, in coordination with the relevant authorities and civil society organisations.
Applications submitted by persons with disabilities, the elderly, pregnant women, unaccompanied children, and the victims of human-trafficking, torture, and sexual violence shall have priority in processing.
The law’s regulations also allow refugees to “obtain a travel document and prohibits their extradition to the country of their nationality or their country of habitual residence, in addition to freedom of religious belief and religious practice and the subjection in matters of personal status to the law of their country of origin or residence.”
Article 18 of the regulations stresses that if an asylum application is definitively rejected, the committee is obligated to notify the Interior Ministry so that immediate deportation measures can be taken against the person concerned, in accordance with the Law on the Entry and Residence of Foreigners, while also opening the door for those affected to appeal against rejection decisions before the Administrative Court of the State Council.
* A version of this article appears in print in the 4 June, 2026 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly.
Short link: