Operational environment
The asylum environment remained steady in Egypt throughout 2018, however, refugees and asylum-seekers continued to face delays in obtaining residence permits.
Following economic reforms, reductions in subsidies resulted in sharp increases in the cost of goods and services, thereby negatively impacting refugee households.
Despite isolated reports of the arrest and detention of refugees and asylum-seekers due to irregular entry, no arrests were recorded in 2018 for attempts to irregularly depart Egypt via the Mediterranean. While several irregular border crossings to Libya were noted, the Office recorded fewer arrests at the southern border in comparison to 2017. Overall, nine cases of deportation or expulsion from Egypt were reported for 2018.
Resettlement continued to be the main durable solution available for most vulnerable refugees in Egypt, however the number of people who met the criteria for resettlement exceeded the availability of places. UNHCR also worked to improve conditions for local integration, including through advocacy with the Government of Egypt for prolonged validity of residence permits (from six months to one year) and greater decentralization of the application process.
The number of newly registered unaccompanied and separated children stabilized in 2018, however the overall needs among children increased due to their vulnerability, particularly girls who faced a heightened risk of sexual violence, compounded by continued underfunding for activities to prevent and mitigate harm.
Population trends
Throughout 2018, some 314,950* people of concern were recorded, including 30,900 asylum-seekers newly registered with UNHCR. Except for Yemeni applicants, whose number increased by 60% from 2017, this figure represents a slight decline in registration of asylum-seekers.
The number of newly registered Syrians dropped by 62%, largely due to changes in the conflict dynamic in some areas of the country. The remaining applicants were from Sudan, Ethiopia, Eritrea, South Sudan, Yemen, Somalia, and Iraq.
Key achievements
- UNHCR advocated with the Government to extend the validity of permits for asylum-seekers from six months to one year to address delays in the issuance of residence permits.
- In continuing to encourage the Government to strengthen their role in managing asylum, the Office submitted a proposal on joint registration and group determination.
- More than 13,700 families (including some 56,800 individuals) were supported through multi-purpose cash grants that went towards food, rent and other basic commodities.
- UNHCR restructured its case processing system in order to realign existing processing modalities with global and regional guidelines. Child protection procedures were particularly strengthened and access to quality child protection interventions were improved.
Unmet needs
- Resources available to UNHCR to cover life-saving and emergency interventions were limited compared to the needs, resulting in more urgent cases being added to the waiting list.
- In 2018, more than 60% of basic needs went unmet and less than 25% of the population in need was targeted with monthly cash assistance due to funding limitations.
- Also due to inadequate funds, UNHCR was unable to cover the needs of all registered children with specific protection needs, including unaccompanied and separated children.
- High staff turnover and difficulties in recruiting a sufficient number of qualified and experienced registration staff delayed the envisaged restructuring of registration and RSD procedures, thereby causing significant delays to processing of cases.
* The total number of people of concern in Egypt includes 70,020 Palestinian refugees (Source of data: Government of Egypt)