Sudanese refugees in Egypt

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There are hundreds of thousands of Sudanese refugees in Egypt, many fleeing ongoing fighting in Sudan. More than 4 million people from Sudan live in Egypt, including about 504,000 who are registered as refugees with UNHCR. The rest are migrants or asylum seekers whose status is often unclear. Life for many is difficult because they face discrimination, police harassment, and limited access to rights and services.

A long history
- Sudanese people have come to Egypt for safety and work for many decades. Egypt and Sudan have shared ties and have had agreements that made moving between the two countries easier at times.
- After Sudan’s civil wars began in 1955, Egypt became a major destination for refugees. In the 1990s and 2000s, many more arrived, especially from southern Sudan as fighting continued.
- In the 1990s and early 2000s, UNHCR tried to help with protection, but many Sudanese in Egypt did not get refugee status and faced limits on work, schooling, and health care.
- Egypt’s policies have changed over time. A 1976 agreement gave Sudanese and Egyptians many rights to live and work in each other’s countries, but this was later canceled or limited in different periods.

Today’s situation
- Since April 2023, fighting has worsened in Sudan, and Egypt has taken in a large number of new arrivals. By early 2025, about 1.2 million Sudanese had come to Egypt, with a little over 600,000 registered with UNHCR. Most new arrivals are women and children.
- Egypt does not operate refugee camps for the most part; people live in cities, often in crowded or expensive housing. The cost of living has risen, making it hard to find affordable homes.
- The government has restricted some rights and services. Although Egypt is a party to the 1951 Refugee Convention, many protections are limited in practice. In 2024, Egypt passed a new asylum law to clarify refugee rights, but rights for asylum seekers remain uncertain and the law’s details are still controversial. The government also set up a Standing Committee for Refugees’ Affairs to handle registration, status decisions, and deportations.
- Before 2023, many Sudanese faced obstacles to education, work, health care, and legal status. Since 2023, access to services has become even more difficult for those without residency permits or recognized refugee status.

Living conditions and challenges
- Work: Getting legal work is hard. Foreigners, including refugees, must obtain work permits, which are expensive and difficult to obtain. Many Sudanese end up in informal work with little security or benefits.
- Education: Sudanese children often struggle to attend school. Public schools may require documents that families cannot always provide, and many refugee children attend church-run or private refugee schools that struggle with overcrowding and limited certification.
- Health: Access to public health care is supposed to be available, but in practice many refugees cannot get care or must pay high costs. Refugee women and girls face particular challenges in obtaining sexual and reproductive health care, and mental health support is often limited.
- Discrimination and safety: Sudanese people in Egypt have faced prejudice, harassment, and sometimes police abuse. There have been protests and clashes in the past when refugees grouped in camps outside UNHCR offices.

Support and services
- Caritas Egypt, Africa and Middle East Refugee Assistance, the International Organization for Migration (IOM), and UNHCR work with Sudanese communities to provide cash aid, legal help, health referrals, and orientation for resettlement to third countries.
- UNHCR Cairo handles many refugee cases but the caseload is large. Since 2005, there have been protests and government crackdowns over refugee status processes and rights.
- Some churches and NGOs run refugee schools and learning centers in Cairo to help children continue their education, though these programs face funding and accreditation challenges.

What people are watching now
- The new asylum law aims to better define rights for recognized refugees and create a clearer process for protection. Critics worry it could restrict protections for asylum seekers and make deportations easier.
- After the 2023-2024 crackdown on irregular entrants, many Sudanese refugees worry about detention and deportation if they do not have proper documents.
- The international community continues to push for more access to education, health care, legal work, and protection from discrimination for Sudanese refugees living in Egypt.

In short, Egypt hosts a large, 오래-standing Sudanese community and a rapidly growing number of new arrivals since 2023. While there are frameworks and aid organizations in place, many Sudanese refugees still struggle to secure basic rights, services, and safety in daily life.