The Committee for Justice (CFJ) has submitted a written statement to the 62nd session of the United Nations Human Rights Council, contributing to the Interactive Dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants.
The statement addresses the situation of Sudanese civilians whose movement across borders has been compelled by the ongoing armed conflict in Sudan, and the protection risks they face in neighbouring and regional host and transit countries.
CFJ emphasized that since April 2023, the war in Sudan has forced civilians to flee not only their homes, but also the country itself, in search of safety, protection, medical care, family reunification, livelihood, and access to humanitarian assistance. Sudanese nationals fleeing the conflict include refugees, asylum seekers, migrants, human rights defenders, journalists, women, children, older persons, persons with disabilities, survivors of torture and sexual violence, and persons fleeing arbitrary detention, enforced disappearance, ethnically targeted violence, and indiscriminate attacks.
The statement notes that UNHCR has identified cross-border movements from Sudan into neighbouring and regional countries, including the Central African Republic, Chad, Egypt, Ethiopia, Libya, South Sudan, and Uganda. CFJ stressed that these movements are not ordinary migration flows, but the direct consequence of armed conflict, insecurity, targeted violence, destruction of civilian infrastructure, and the collapse of basic services in Sudan.
Between March 2026 and 24 May 2026, CFJ monitored 13,191 civilians subjected to forced displacement, alongside repeated incidents involving civilians killed by bombing or shelling, arbitrary detention, enforced disappearance, and attacks on civilian objects. CFJ warned that for many Sudanese nationals, return to Sudan is neither safe nor realistic, and any forced return to areas where individuals may face persecution, torture, arbitrary detention, enforced disappearance, conflict-related violence, or other serious harm would raise serious concerns under the principle of non-refoulement.
“Sudanese nationals fleeing the conflict must be treated first and foremost as persons in need of protection,” said Usame Mehmetoglu, Regional Officer at CFJ. “Regional responses must be grounded in non-refoulement, access to asylum procedures, documentation, family unity, and protection from arbitrary detention, trafficking, exploitation, and unsafe return.”
CFJ warned that Sudanese migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers face overlapping protection risks across neighbouring and regional host and transit countries, including legal uncertainty, delays in registration, arbitrary arrest, lack of access to asylum procedures, detention due to irregular entry or residency status, family separation, exploitation, trafficking, forced labour, limited access to healthcare and education, and exposure to unsafe returns.
The statement highlighted the severe pressure placed on humanitarian systems in Chad, South Sudan, Ethiopia, the Central African Republic, and other neighbouring countries receiving Sudanese arrivals, noting that many people arrive after prolonged exposure to violence, hunger, family separation, and lack of medical care. CFJ stressed that their protection needs must be treated as human rights concerns, not only as humanitarian caseloads.
In Libya, CFJ warned that Sudanese migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers face particularly grave risks, including arbitrary detention, trafficking, extortion, forced labour, violence, abuse by smuggling networks, and detention in official and unofficial sites. These risks are especially acute for persons who attempt to transit onward through unsafe migration routes, including toward the Mediterranean.
The statement also raised serious concerns regarding Egypt, which has become one of the main destinations for Sudanese nationals fleeing the war. CFJ expressed concern that Egyptian authorities have increasingly responded to Sudanese refugees, asylum seekers, and migrants through a security-based approach rather than a protection-based one.
CFJ documented violations against migrants and refugees in Egypt, particularly Sudanese nationals, including arbitrary arrest, detention in abusive conditions, denial of medical care, and deaths in custody. The statement refers to the death of Sudanese child Al-Nazeer Al-Sadiq inside Badr Police Station, the death of a Sudanese refugee in a Cairo police station due to medical negligence, and the death of a Sudanese youth following police detention under unclear circumstances.
CFJ also highlighted the forced deportation of Sudanese writer Idris Ali Babikir, despite his UNHCR registration status, following approximately 50 days of detention in overcrowded and degrading conditions. CFJ considered the case illustrative of a broader pattern of arbitrary detention, denial of effective protection safeguards, and forced returns of Sudanese nationals despite continuing risks upon return.
The statement further warned that Egypt’s adopted asylum law grants broad discretionary powers to the national Permanent Committee for Refugee Affairs, imposes restrictive deadlines for asylum applications depending on mode of entry, limits access to appeal, and restricts refugee rights in ways that may undermine Egypt’s obligations under international refugee law, international human rights law, and the principle of non-refoulement.
CFJ urged the Human Rights Council and the Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants to:
- Call on all States receiving Sudanese nationals fleeing the conflict to fully respect the principle of non-refoulement and halt any forced return to Sudan where individuals may face serious harm.
- Urge host and transit States to ensure access to territory, asylum procedures, UNHCR registration, documentation, legal assistance, healthcare, education, and effective remedies.
- Call on States to end the arbitrary arrest and detention of Sudanese nationals based solely on irregular entry or residency status and adopt protection-sensitive alternatives to detention.
- Urge Egypt to halt forced deportations of Sudanese nationals, investigate deaths and abuses in custody, ensure access to asylum procedures and legal safeguards, and amend the asylum law in line with international standards.
- Call on Libya and other transit countries to investigate trafficking, extortion, forced labour, arbitrary detention, violence, and abuse affecting Sudanese migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers.
- Urge the international community to increase support to host communities and humanitarian actors, while ensuring that migration cooperation and border control arrangements do not contribute to refoulement, arbitrary detention, or externalization of protection responsibilities.