Egypt’s Interior Ministry has stepped up arrests and detention of Syrians without residency permits in recent days through street and checkpoint searches, Syrian rights advocates told Al Manassa.
The campaigns come as the government has, for more than a year, tightened approvals for renewing or issuing residency permits, pushing many Syrians into legal limbo and exposing them to detention and deportation, advocates said.
A Syrian rights activist told Al Manassa, speaking on condition of anonymity, that the arrests included Syrians whose residencies had expired, or who had applied to the UN refugee agency for the “yellow card.” Areas with large Syrian communities such as 6th of October City, Nasr City, and Faisal, have seen checkpoints for questioning people.
Adel Al-Helwany, the Cairo representative of the dissolved Syrian National Coalition, told Al Manassa the measures have largely targeted people whose residencies expired and who have not regularized their status.
In a report issued in early February, the Refugee Platform in Egypt documented what it described as an “unprecedented escalation in official policies and practices toward refugees, asylum seekers, and migrants” between late December 2025 and the end of January 2026.
The report said restrictions on Syrians’ access to residency have intensified in recent months through stricter issuance requirements, halting renewals of tourist residencies, and requiring security approvals through costly, complex procedures, pushing tens of thousands of Syrians into what it called “forced legal irregularity,” even if they are registered refugees or long-term residents.
That status has left Syrians in a fragile legal position, labeled “violators” during street, workplace, and home checks, and vulnerable to arrest, detention, and threats of deportation, instead of receiving a minimum level of legal security through the asylum and residency system, the report said.
The Interior Ministry, however, denied introducing any new measures related to Syrians’ entry to Egypt. In a brief statement on Sunday, it said there was “no truth” to what it described as claims circulating on social media about new controls on Syrians entering Egyptian territory.
The Syrian rights activist said the campaigns and restrictions were not new, describing periodic crackdowns since tighter visa rules were imposed in 2024.
The situation leaves Syrians vulnerable to detention and deportation. “If you don’t have a residency permit, you get detained, and if you don’t have a legal basis to stay, you get referred to the embassy, and the embassy either gives you a travel document or deports you,” the activist said.
With long waits for residency renewals, they added, people can be treated as “in violation,” detained for “two or three days” while their status is reviewed, and then potentially deported.
The activist said deportations can include Syrians who have businesses, workshops, factories, or property in Egypt. “Many sold everything they had in Syria, came to invest in Egypt, and started a project. What are they supposed to do with their assets in Egypt?” they said.
Many Syrians are now afraid to go out in areas such as 6th of October City and Abbas El-Akkad Street to avoid being stopped and facing deportation, Al-Helwany told Al Manassa.
He said the situation has become harder amid years of accumulated violations, administrative and security pressure to regularize status, and delays in UN refugee agency appointments, creating confusion and anxiety among Syrians in Egypt, especially those waiting their turn through legal channels without a clear timeline.
In a joint statement last month, 10 rights groups, including the Egyptian Front for Human Rights, the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, the Egyptian Commission for Rights and Freedoms, the Law and Democracy Support Foundation, and the Refugee Platform in Egypt, called for an end to arrests and deportations of Syrians.
The statement also recommended clear legal pathways to regularize Syrians’ status, recognition of temporary documents, effective judicial oversight of detention and deportation decisions, access for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees to detainees, and legal support before any decisions are carried out.
