Banjul, The Gambia, 9 May 2026 — The Committee for Justice welcomes the adoption of a thematic resolution submitted by CFJ on Forced Displacement, Non-Refoulement, and the Protection of Sudanese Civilians, Refugees, Asylum Seekers, and Migrants in Sudan, Egypt and Libya.
The resolution, adopted under TRES/006/05/26, was presented during the NGO Forum held in Banjul from 7 to 9 May 2026, ahead of the public session of the 87th Ordinary Session of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights.
Through this resolution, the NGO Forum recognized the regional protection crisis affecting Sudanese civilians fleeing the ongoing armed conflict, including internally displaced persons inside Sudan, Sudanese refugees and asylum seekers in Egypt, and Sudanese migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers exposed to detention, trafficking, exploitation, unsafe returns, and abuse in Libya.
The resolution recalls the obligations of States Parties under the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, particularly the rights to life, dignity, liberty and security of person, freedom of movement, health, and the protection of vulnerable groups. It further invokes the 1969 OAU Refugee Convention, the Kampala Convention, and the principle of non-refoulement, which prohibits returning any person to a place where they may face persecution, torture, arbitrary deprivation of life, enforced disappearance, or other serious harm.
The adopted resolution calls on all parties to the conflict in Sudan to immediately cease attacks against civilians and civilian objects, prevent further forced displacement, protect displaced communities, and ensure safe, rapid, and unhindered humanitarian access to affected populations. It also urges Sudan and all parties to the conflict to respect the rights of internally displaced persons, including their rights to safety, dignity, humanitarian assistance, family unity, documentation, and safe, voluntary, informed, and dignified return only where conditions allow.
Concerning Egypt and Libya, the resolution calls for full respect of the principle of non-refoulement and for an immediate halt to forced returns of Sudanese refugees, asylum seekers, migrants, and other persons to places where they may face persecution, torture, arbitrary detention, enforced disappearance, or other serious harm. It also urges both countries to end the arbitrary arrest and detention of Sudanese refugees, asylum seekers, and migrants on the basis of irregular entry or residency status, and to ensure access to legal safeguards, interpretation, medical care, family contact, judicial review, and effective remedies.
The resolution further calls on Egypt to ensure that Sudanese refugees and asylum seekers have effective and prompt access to registration, asylum procedures, protection from forced deportation, healthcare, legal assistance, and education. It also calls on Libya to close all secret and unofficial detention sites used to hold Sudanese migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers, investigate trafficking, extortion, forced labour, deaths in detention, and deaths at sea, and provide survivors with protection, medical care, legal assistance, and access to justice.
CFJ stresses that the adoption of this resolution reflects growing recognition that forced displacement, unsafe migration routes, arbitrary detention, trafficking, refoulement, and denial of access to protection are not isolated national issues, but part of a wider regional protection crisis affecting Sudanese civilians and displaced communities across Sudan, Egypt, Libya, and other neighbouring States.
CFJ also welcomes the resolution’s request to the Special Rapporteur on Refugees, Asylum Seekers, Internally Displaced Persons and Migrants in Africa to closely monitor regional protection risks arising from the Sudan conflict, including through continued engagement with States, civil society, UNHCR, and affected communities.
The Committee for Justice calls on the African Commission and its relevant Special Mechanisms to follow up on the resolution’s recommendations and strengthen coordination with the Joint ACHPR/AU Fact-Finding Mission on Sudan and civil society organizations to document violations affecting Sudanese displaced persons, refugees, asylum seekers, and migrants, and to support victim-centred protection and accountability.