Egypt this week passed its first bill to grant asylum to migrants, which has sparked opposition from human rights advocates who fear security concerns will override migrant protection.

The bill, ratified on Tuesday by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, aims to respond to the mass arrival of refugees arriving in the country, mainly from Sudan and the Gaza Strip.

Hundreds of Sudanese are entering Egypt every day, according to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), which has warned of the potential for an increase in irregular migrants from that war-torn country.

The UNHCR had registered a total of 845,000 people who had been granted refugee or asylum-seeker status in Egypt by the end of November.

But according to the government, Egypt is home to more than nine million “guests”, as the country’s prime minister described them.

For years, the UNHCR has managed the registration and asylum status of refugees under an agreement it entered into in 1954 with the Egyptian government. The new law transfers these responsibilities to the Egyptian authorities and provides for the establishment of a permanent committee under the Prime Minister.

This body is responsible for overseeing matters related to asylum applications and the provision of basic services to refugees.

For human rights advocates, the law was hastily adopted without adequate consultation with civil society organizations or the UNHCR.

Karim Enarah, director of the research department of the Egyptian Human Rights Initiative, denounced a bill “that was adopted in haste and in secret.”

Tarek Radwan, chairman of the parliamentary human rights committee, responded that it was “urgent to adopt” the bill. “No country can manage the constant increase in the number of refugees without rules to frame their presence,” he said.

The Egyptian government says the law is in line with international treaties and aims to organize data on migrants by integrating the government’s databases with those of the UNHCR.

But critics say the bill adopts “a security-based approach.”

One of the main concerns relates to the article that allows Egyptian authorities to take “necessary measures” against refugees in wartime, during counter-terrorism operations, or in response to emergencies in order to ensure public order and national security.

Another controversial article provides for penalties for those who offer protection to refugees without first informing the police.

The law also requires refugees who enter Egypt illegally to apply for asylum within 45 days of their arrival in the country.

So many measures “further weaken the already fragile protections of refugees,” Enarah complained.

In a report published on Tuesday, Human Rights Watch (HRW) noted “the risk that Egyptian authorities could deny or arbitrarily cancel the right to asylum”, “use extraordinary powers to infringe” on refugees’ rights, “force them to comply with rules that have been couched in vague terms” and criminalise illegal entries into Egypt.

In recent years Egypt has welcomed mostly Syrians, Palestinians, and Sudanese.

According to government figures, more than 1.2 million Sudanese refugees have fled to Egypt since the outbreak of war there in 2023. Also, more than 150,000 Syrians have sought refuge in Egypt since 2011.

Moreover, more than 100,000 Palestinians have entered Egypt since the outbreak of war in the Gaza Strip in October 2023.

Although many Egyptians show solidarity, others see the refugees as a burden on health and education services and exacerbate the housing problem.

Egyptian officials have repeatedly called for more funding from abroad. In October, the EU offered Egypt €12.2 million to provide education and health services for refugees and migrants.