Fragmented asylum

The report examines how Egypt, South Sudan, and Chad manage the influx of Sudanese refugees, highlighting a systemic gap between international legal commitments and the lived realities of displaced persons. It identifies specific failures in each country—Egypt's security-heavy approach, South Sudan's operational fragility, and Chad's institutional weakness—and recommends regional coordination through the AU and IGAD to establish a predictable protection framework.

• The Sudanese displacement crisis serves as a 'governance stress test' that exposes the institutional fragility of African nations and the limitations of existing refugee frameworks.
• Egypt has implemented restrictive visa policies and removed visa-on-arrival provisions for Sudanese citizens, which has pushed refugees into irregular routes and increased their vulnerability to exploitation by smugglers.
• Despite passing Law No. 164 in December 2024 as its first standalone asylum legislation, Egypt's system is criticized for vague language and the creation of a Standing Committee for Refugee Affairs that can revoke status based on 'national security' or 'social values'.
• South Sudan faces a complex dual challenge of managing new Sudanese asylum seekers alongside the reintegration of its own returning nationals, often without clear legal distinctions between the two groups.
• While South Sudan has developed sophisticated policy frameworks, such as the 2019 National Comprehensive Migration Policy and the 2024 Durable Solutions Strategy, there is a significant gap in local enforcement and judicial capacity.
• Chad has maintained an open-door policy and possesses progressive refugee laws (Law No. 33/2011), but implementation is severely hampered by extreme state fragility and a heavy reliance on international humanitarian actors.
• Across the host countries, a lack of formal documentation creates 'legal invisibility' for refugees, preventing them from accessing basic services such as healthcare, education, and formal employment.
• The regional response is characterized by a lack of coordination and a reliance on 'outsourced protection' via the UNHCR, leading to inconsistent standards and a failure to share the hosting burden equitably.

APA

Maunganidze, O. A., & Monyani, M. (2025). Fragmented asylum. Institute for Security Studies. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/pages/1765521823216-ar-48.pdf

Chicago

Maunganidze, Ottilia Anna, and Margaret Monyani. Fragmented asylum. Institute for Security Studies, 2025. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/pages/1765521823216-ar-48.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Maunganidze |first1=Ottilia Anna |last2=Monyani |first2=Margaret |title=Fragmented asylum |publisher=Institute for Security Studies |date=November 2025 |url=https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/pages/1765521823216-ar-48.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{maunganidze2025fragmented, author = {Maunganidze, Ottilia Anna and Monyani, Margaret}, title = {{Fragmented asylum}}, institution = {Institute for Security Studies}, year = {2025}, month = nov, url = {https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/pages/1765521823216-ar-48.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }