In December 2024, Egypt adopted a new domestic asylum law (Law No. 164 of 2024), establishing a national committee to manage refugee affairs and decide on asylum requests on a case-by-case basis within specific timeframes, under full judicial oversight. The law transfers responsibility for refugee status determination (RSD) from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to the Egyptian government for the first time since the 1950s. Although Egypt ratified the 1951 Geneva Refugee Convention in 1981, it is not the Egyptian state but the UNHCR that has been responsible for processing asylum applications, granting people refugee status, issuing identity documents, and, at least in principle, providing emergency assistance to asylum seekers and refugees. Under a 1954 memorandum of understanding, Egypt agreed to recognize UNHCR-issued documents as valid proof of identity and to refrain from deporting individuals who hold them. In practice, however, refugees registered with UNHCR are still often denied access to education, public health services, and the formal labor market. This long-standing division of responsibility between government and UNHCR has raised persistent questions about national sovereignty. The new asylum law can thus be seen as an attempt to move from a bilateral agreement to a nationally controlled framework.