Nationality in Egypt is founded on the 1975 Nationality Law. The law was amended in 2004, to provide Egyptian women the right to transmit nationality to their children. The UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women welcomed the revision of the law, but expressed concerns about continuing difficulties for women in practice.
Egypt has long been a destination for migrants, whether those escaping war in Palestine who have tended to stay in Egypt, or more recent migrants escaping wars in the Horn of Africa who have tended to stay only temporarily. Egyptian law does not allow for refugees to naturalize regardless of the length of their stay, unless they are married to an Egyptian or have an Egyptian parent. Palestinians are explicitly excluded from naturalization as a way of preserving their identity and political cause (see Struggles for Citizenship in Africa, p.144-5).
The Arab Awakening of 2011 brought new developments in citizenship, first with greater access to citizenship for the children of Palestinian fathers (which was commended by the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child); but later there were many deprivations of citizenship from Palestinians and others alleged to be involved in terrorist activities. The new constitution adopted in 2011 established new restrictions on the citizenship of the president and his family.
Egypt has recently granted citizenship to three brothers from the Sinai Peninsula, renewing calls by other stateless individuals, mainly tribesmen, to receive the citizenship as they are deprived of their most basic rights. The Egyptian Ministry of Interior has recently…
An Egyptian administrative court rejected a lawsuit filed by a lawyer known for his support of the government to revoke the citizenship of defendants convicted in terror-related cases. Tarek Mahmoud, who filed the lawsuit, alleged that since 30 June 2013,…
Ghada Naguib, now in exile, says she has been targeted due to her criticism of a top intelligence officer Egypt has revoked the nationality of an exiled activist in an apparent reprisal for her outspoken opposition to the government of…
(Beirut) – The Egyptian government should reverse its arbitrary and abusive decision, made in December 2020, to revoke the citizenship of political activist Ghada Naguib, Human Rights Watch said today. The Parliament should amend abusive citizenship laws so that they…
By Mohamed Samir Egypt’s cabinet on Tuesday set five requirements to grant nationality to foreigners by investment in the country’s economy, per Law No. 90 of 2019, a law recently approved by the Parliament. The requirements include either purchasing state-owned…
(July 31, 2019) On June 10, 2019, the National Defense and Security Committee of the Egyptian Parliament approved a draft law amending the Citizenship Law—Law No. 26 of 1975. The new amendment aims at attracting foreign investors to reside in Egypt. The…
The Egyptian parliament approved on Sunday some amendments drafted by the government to two laws regulating Egyptian nationality (law 26/1975), and the residence of foreigners in the country (89/1960). The parliament’s forth legislative term will conclude this week, totalling 10…
By Bronwen Manby Abstract This paper presents a synthesis of research findings on the identification needs of Sub-Saharan African and other migrants and refugees in Egypt and Morocco, particularly focusing on children born outside the country of nationality of their…
The CAPMAS disclosed that Egyptian males who have obtained approval to immigrate and those who have acquired immigrant status was 319, representing 82.9% of the total number of immigrants, meanwhile female immigrants were 66, representing only 17.1% from the total number.…
CAIRO – 19 June 2019: The Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS) revealed a report Tuesday showing that the number of Egyptians abroad reached 10.247 million, according to the Foreign Ministry estimates in 2017. The report noted that…