Egypt: “Handcuffed like dangerous criminals”: Arbitrary detention and forced returns of Sudanese refugees in Egypt

Since September 2023, Egypt’s Border Guard Forces and police have carried out mass arbitrary arrests of Sudanese people who fled the ongoing armed conflict in Sudan for irregularly entering or staying in Egypt. The Egyptian authorities held women, men and children in cruel and inhuman conditions, including in warehouses or horse stables, pending their forced return to Sudan without giving them the opportunity to claim asylum or to challenge their deportation.