Sudanese war refugees recount harrowing experiences in Egyptian prisons.

Fleeing the civil war in Sudan, 18-year-old Al-Nazir Al-Sadig sought refuge in Egypt. Instead, he died of pneumonia after spending over three weeks in a filthy Cairo jail, where friends and relatives say he endured beatings and extortion from fellow inmates.

A high-school student, Al-Sadig was detained as part of what lawyers and human rights groups describe as a sweeping crackdown on refugees that contrasts sharply with Egypt’s stated role as a safe haven.

Egypt denies being unwelcoming to refugees, pointing out that it took in over a million people when war erupted in Sudan in 2023, serving as a buffer for those who might have continued north to Europe. However, with an economic crisis and growing anti-migrant sentiment, authorities have since adopted a tougher stance, carrying out arrests and deportations.

Starting late last year, plain-clothes security officers have detained thousands of refugees and other ‌migrants in homes and workplaces, pulling them off streets into unmarked vehicles, according to 45 refugees, seven lawyers and eight advocates. The reporting found some were leaving Egypt and taking their chances in war-torn Sudan rather than risk being separated from their families and deported. Others have gone into hiding, at a time activists warn a newly implemented law risks further eroding asylum protections.

Authorities have deported more than 5,500 people since November, a fraction of the overall refugee population but a sharp escalation from around 100 formal deportations each year in 2023 and 2024, three security officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity and citing previously unreported figures.

Egypt does not publish detailed immigration data and Reuters could not independently verify the deportation and detention figures in the current crackdown.

Reuters reported three deaths of Sudanese refugees in Egypt’s overcrowded prisons this year: a 30-year-old who collapsed 72 hours after his detention, a 67-year-old diabetic man, and a high school student named Al-Sadig. According to two security officials, a total of nine Sudanese nationals have died in custody, though they didn’t provide details on the other cases. Reuters was unable to independently confirm the additional fatalities.