Egypt’s passport and immigration authority deported Syrian journalist Samer Mokhtar from Egypt on Monday, two days after a police official called to say his residency renewal problem had been resolved following a complaint from his family, his former wife, journalist Eman Adel, told Al Manassa.
The deportation comes amid a broader tightening of residency rules for Syrians in Egypt, which rights groups say has left many at risk of arrest or removal even if they are registered refugees or long-settled residents.
Adel said in a February 28 Facebook video, before closing her account on Monday evening, that when she and Samer, her son’s father, tried to renew his residency in Egypt, the Interior Ministry’s passport and immigration authority told them National Security had barred renewals for Syrians who are not investors.
Appealing to the authorities in the video, Adel said, “I’m speaking as an Egyptian mother. I have an Egyptian child, and his father is threatened with deportation. Does the state have the right to deprive a child of his father?” She complained that her son was at risk of losing his father because of administrative restrictions.
Reassurance, then an ambush
After the video was published, Adel said in another post that Samer had received a call from the passport authority saying he could collect his residency permit at any time, which the family took as a positive sign, expressing gratitude to those who helped bring about the development.
Adel and her seven-year-old son accompanied Samer to the passport authority on Saturday morning to complete the residency renewal process.
But things did not go as expected, Adel said, adding that Samer entered the Criminal Investigation Department at 9 am, and neither she nor her son was allowed in with him. They did not know where he was until the office closed at 4 pm.
“We waited outside the door, and when my son caught sight of his father through the doorway, surrounded by police officers, he ran to him instinctively,” she added. “A police sergeant picked him up and threw him back outside the door. My son’s father never appeared again after the office closed.”
Later, she posted a second appeal video apologizing for her first one and saying Samer takes medication that cannot be stopped abruptly without putting his life at risk.
Deportation to Lebanon
Despite the toll on the family, especially their young son, Adel told Al Manassa that Samer appeared to accept the decision and even expressed relief at being released from detention.
She added that Samer told her he would first be deported to Lebanon, then handed over to the Syrian authorities to continue overland to Syria.
Samer was not wanted in any cases in Syria and had been away from the country for many years, she said.
Adel said she faced an organized online harassment campaign over Samer’s case from anti-refugee accounts before closing her Facebook account.
In February, the Interior Ministry launched arrest and detention campaigns against Syrians without residency permits through inspections at checkpoints and in the streets, two Syrian rights advocates told Al Manassa. They said the government has been tightening approval procedures for renewing or issuing residency permits for more than a year.
Amnesty International later confirmed that Syrians in Egypt face tight restrictions on renewing or obtaining residency permits, including security clearances and complex administrative procedures.
It said the situation includes Syrians registered with the UN refugee agency as well as long-settled residents, creating what it described as a state of “forced legal irregularity” that leaves them vulnerable to arrest or deportation if they fail to meet the new conditions.
At the same time, the Refugees Platform in Egypt said it had documented 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 organization said restrictions on Syrians’ access to residency had intensified in recent months through stricter issuance requirements, the suspension of tourist residency renewals, the need for security approval, and costly, complex procedures, pushing tens of thousands into what it called “forced legal irregularity,” even if they were registered refugees or long-term residents.
The Interior Ministry, however, denied introducing any new measures affecting Syrians’ entry into Egypt.
