Posted: 16 May, 2025 Filed under: Rehim Baharu Elala | Tags: asylum seekers, civil war, debauchery, deportation, detention, Egypt, equality before the law, gender identity, homophobic nature, human rights, LGBTIQ community, LGBTQ refugees, Memorandum of Understanding, non-discrimination, refugee population, rights to privacy, same sex relationship, sexual orientation, torture, voluntary repatriation
Author: Rehim Baharu Elala
Human rights attorney and women’s rights advocate
The refugee population in Egypt has significantly increased following the eruption of the Sudanese civil war between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in mid-April 2023. Sudanese refugees and asylum seekers account for 68.7% of the total refugee population in Egypt[1]. Amid this crisis the Egyptian Government enacted a new asylum law in December 2024 without meaningful consultations with the refugee community, human rights organisations and other key stakeholders including UNHCR.
UNHCR was conducting the registration of asylum seekers and Refugee Status Determination (RSD) to offer protection on behalf of the government on the basis of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed in 1954. The MoU delegates a set of defined responsibilities to UNHCR including but not limited to registration, documentation, refugee status determination (RSD), resettlement (RST), voluntary repatriation, and support for vulnerable individuals, while the Egyptian Government retains the role of the issuance of residence permits for refugees[2]. Despite the backlogs in processing asylum applications, UNHCR Egypt has been the largest and most productive RSD mandate operation globally. The Egyptian government wants to take over the task without indicating a viable transition plan to establish an asylum management system in line with its international and regional undertakings.
LGBTIQ+ asylum seekers and refugees in Egypt
There is no available data on the number of LGBTQ refugees in Egypt. Due to the homophobic nature of the host community, most LGBTQ refugees are hesitant to express themselves as such during registration with UNHCR[3]. Even though there is no clear legal provision criminalising homosexual relationships in Egypt, authorities employ vague legal provisions to persecute queer individuals using the law on debauchery and immorality. For example the law on Combating of Prostitution criminalises enabling acts of debauchery or prostitution, as well as the acts themselves, with a penalty of up to three years imprisonment and a fine[4].
The lived Experiences of LGBTIQ refugees in Egypt
The situation of Ahmed, a 25-year old Sudanese refugee who has lived in Cairo since 2020[5], illustrates the lived realities of LGBTIQ refugees in Egypt. From a very young age, around 12 or 13 years old, Ahmed started developing an attraction towards boys and men. He first discovered his sexual orientation when he noticed his sexual attraction towards male celebrities that he used to watch on TV. At home his mother used to tell him to act like a boy and play with his male friends and to avoid the feminine traits which he did not exactly remember.
When Ahmed was around 18 years old his two gay friends introduced him to the LGBTIQ community in Sudan. They kept meeting at tea shops in Khartoum, organising parties and having intimate relationships secretly in houses. The friends he met at the LGBTIQ community helped Ahmed to accept his sexual orientation, increase his self-esteem, and avoid any shame that he experienced for defying the norms of the society.
In 2020, Ahmed’s mother died due to cancer complications a few days after he celebrated his 20th birthday. Ahmed’s friends from the LGBTIQ community heard the news and came to his house to attend the funeral and comfort the family. However, his elder brother Kedir got furious as most of them were dressed in tight clothes and some of them had makeup. Kedir showed an extremely violent reaction and kicked Ahmed’s friends out of the house. When Ahmed tried to intervene and downed-escalate the situation, Kedir slapped him in the face in front of the people who were gathered for the mourning. Kedir threatened to kill him unless he cut off his ties with the same group of friends. Ahmed felt humiliated and left the house. As Ahmed was tired of hiding his sexual orientation and the mistreatment from his elder brother, he opted to flee for Cairo in search of better safety and protection.
After his arrival in Cairo, Ahmed rented a flat with one Sudanese young man. As he could not manage to find a job, he was initially financially assisted by his paternal cousins who were working in a plastic company in Cairo. However, a couple of months later, his cousins stopped supporting him as they were laid off from their jobs due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Ahmed’s flat mate Musa started suggesting that they should engage in survival sex to meet their basic needs. At first, Ahmed refused as he did not want to engage in such an act. However, soon after Musa threatened to evict him, Ahmed felt extremely destitute and forced to agree with the idea in order to avoid the risk of being homeless. Musa then started picking up potential customers through the gay dating application “Grindr” and he used to bring them to the flat.
In 2021, one of Musa’s customers who came drunk started screaming loudly accusing Musa of stealing money from him. The landlord and other residents of the building rushed to the scene and inquired about the incident. Musa’s customer became even louder and informed everyone in the area that Ahmed and Musa are both gays. Ahmed and Musa rejected the accusation but they were slapped by the people in the area who were already suspicious as they were seeing strange men who used to come to the flat. Ahmed and Musa were evicted from the house around midnight without taking their belongings as the landlord was intimidated to call the police. Ahmed and Musa did not approach the police to report the incident to get their stuff back as they were afraid of facing further reprisals. Following the eviction, Ahmed and Musa were forced to sleep in the street for more than two weeks until they managed to rent a flat with the help of NGOs.
In 2023 Ahmed was physically assaulted and was detained for three months by an Egyptian police officer who reached out to him via “Grinder” pretending to be gay. The officer asked for a meet up and offered Ahmed money after they chatted for a couple of weeks. When Ahmed arrived at the agreed place he was surrounded by a group of three police officers and was taken to one of the detention facilities in Cairo. He was charged with committing debauchery which he denied, the prosecutor presented the text exchanges as evidence and he was finally sentenced to three months in prison. While being interrogated in detention Ahmed was severely beaten and tortured as he denied engaging in a same sex relationship. Ahmed still suffers from lingering psychological effects due to the incidents he faced and feels unsafe in Egypt. He also feels helpless and humiliated as he cannot freely express his sexual orientation. Ahmed got his refugee status from UNHCR Egypt in December 2023 and hopes he will one-day be resettled to a third country where he can express himself and lead a dignified life.
Risks for LGBTIQ refugees under the new asylum law
Egypt is a party to both the UN Refugee Convention and the 1969 OAU Convention on refugees. The country was expected to integrate the commitments in both instruments under the new asylum law for the effective management of the asylum process. However, the rushed law which lacks proper participation of important stakeholders including refugees has brought legal gaps and unclear language which would undermine the rights of refugees in the country.
Once the Egyptian government starts registering and conducting RSD interviews, new arrival LGBTIQ asylum seekers will not be at ease to seek protection on the basis of their sexual orientation or gender identity. They will be at risk of arrest, detention and possibly deportation as the Egyptian authorities are unwilling to offer protection for LGBTIQ refugees. As a result, LGBTIQ refugees have to rely on other Convention grounds even though the real reason for leaving their home country is the persecution on the basis of their sexual orientation and gender identity.
The new law employs the undefined term “values and traditions of Egyptian society,” which will enable the Egyptian police and security officers to arbitrarily arrest, detain and easily revoke the refugee status of LGBTIQ people who are accused of engaging in same sex relationships or perceived to be homosexuals. The same ground can be used to expel the refugees from Egypt and deport them to their home countries where their lives will be at risk. The new asylum law also puts a restriction on LGBTIQ refugees like others from participating in “any political or partisan work, work in syndicates, or the founding, joining, or participating in any form of political parties”[6]. This clearly violates the fundamental human rights of refugees which are recognised under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) to which Egypt is a party. The Egyptian authorities can use this provision to revoke the refugee status and remove LGBTIQ refugees from Egypt.
The new asylum law also lacks procedural safeguards throughout the asylum process, such as the right to legal representation, to access information in a language the LGBTIQ refugee understands. The decision of the Permanent Committee for Refugee Affairs (PCRA) on refugee status will only be appealed to administrative tribunals which lack expertise on the sophisticated area of refugee rights. There has to be a competent higher tribunal which is well equipped with human rights and refugee law.
Conclusion
Under the new law, the situation of LGBTIQ refugees will take a step backwards and their lives will be under increasing risk. This represents a significant regression which must be resisted. Non-governmental organisations and other stakeholders should advocate for durable solutions for the LGBTQ+ community in complementary pathways and prioritising them in resettlement options due to their unique situation, challenges, and risks that exceed their capacities. The government of Egypt has an obligation under its international commitment to repeal vaguely worded and discriminatory asylum law which undermines the rights to privacy, non-discrimination and equality before the law of LGBTIQ refugees.
[1] The UN Refugee Agency, December 2024 Fact Sheet. Available at accessed on 21 March 2025.
[2] Regional Refugee Resilience Plan, Egypt Country Chapter 2024, available at www.3rpsyriacrisis.org/publication accessed on 21 March 2025.
[3] I interviewed two LGBTIQ refugees who shared their experiences. Both stated they were afraid to disclose their sexual orientation during their individual registration with UNHCR. They told me most LGBTIQ refugees prefer to disclose their sexual orientation or gender identity at later stages during the RSD or resettlement process as they lack trust on the confidentiality of the information. In-person interview with Ahmed and Musa (their names have changes) on 20 December 2024 in Cairo, Egypt.
[4] Article 9 of the Law on combating prostitution 10/1961 reads “Punishment by imprisonment for a period not less than three months and not exceeding three years and a fine not less than 25 LE and not exceeding 300 LE in the Egyptian administration and not less than 250 Lira and not exceeding 3000 Lira in the Syrian administration.
[5] In-person interview conducted with Ahmed (his name is changed for privacy reasons) in Cairo on 20 December 2024. We had discussed a wide range of issues including his journey towards self-realisation, the reason for flight from Sudan, the problems he is facing in Cairo and the challenges LGBTIQ refugees face in Egypt.
[6] Muddathir Mohamed Al Tayab Ali LGBTQ+ Refugees in Egypt: Hopes and Aspirations, Cairo 52 Legal Research Institute. Available at https://cairo52.com/2023/04/29/lgbtq-refugees-in-egypt-hopes-and-aspirations accessed on 19 March 2025.
About the Author
Rehim Baharu Elala is a human rights attorney and women’s rights advocate based in Ethiopia. Before obtaining his law Master of Laws degree from Georgetown University in 2021, he was already dedicated to challenging local norms surrounding men’s involvement (or lack thereof) in feminist organising. First advocating for gender equality at his school’s legal aid office, Rehim went on to assist in landmark cases that established more equitable approaches in divorce proceedings in Ethiopia. His commitment to improving Ethiopia’s legal and cultural protections for women and children continues today. In addition to litigating cases on behalf of survivors in his community, Rehim’s role at the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission involves monitoring the living conditions of children forced to live in prison with their incarcerated mothers. Rehim also worked on Resettlement Casework with UNHCR Gambella and Egypt until December 2024.
