Demand for UNHCR registration in Egypt surged after war began in Sudan in April 2023. By 10 May 2024, UNHCR Egypt had issued pre-registration appointments to 518,282 people forced to flee Sudan, while its Greater Cairo reception centre provided daily information sessions.
The object of waiting was not a single interview. People moved through phone contact, pre-registration, an appointment date and identity checks before entering the protection system. An administration unable to receive hundreds of thousands at once replaced a vast physical line with numbered appointments, but did not remove the wait itself.