Birth Registration and Consular Assistance in Egypt and Morocco 15 and refugee status. In practice, refugee status determination (except in case of Palestinian refugees, where different regulations apply) is conducted by UNHCR under a 1954 memorandum of understanding. Asylum seekers and refugees are provided with residence permits under the general migration law41 based on their UNHCR registration, valid for only six months. The number of international migrants and refugees in Egypt increased from 295,000 to 491,000 between 2010 and 2015, in part due to the inflow of refugees from Syria.42 As of June 2017, as this project got underway, there were an estimated 478,000 migrants and refugees in Egypt, including 219,212 registered refugees (of which more than half were from Syria).43 Following its ratification of the 1951 Refugee Convention, Morocco adopted a decree in 1957 authorising the establishment of a unit responsible for refugees within the foreign ministry.44 This office was, however, not established for many years. In 2014, the Moroccan government adopted a new strategy on asylum and immigration.45 Under this strategy, it finally established the Moroccan Office for Refugees and Stateless Persons (Bureau marocain des réfugiés et des apatrides, BMRA) within the Department of Foreign Affairs, with a sub-committee to hear requests for asylum and grant refugee status. A draft law on asylum was also put forward. The government also launched a programme of regularisation of migrants, relaxing the general requirements established by the 2003 immigration law,46 with a second phase of regularisation in 2016. In order to benefit from these regularisation campaigns, a migrant would need to fulfil various conditions, including showing five years residence in Morocco, based on a certificate of residence issued by a local authority.47 Law on Entry and Residence of Aliens in the Territories of the United Arab Republic and their Departure Therefrom (Law No. 89 of 1960 as amended most recently by law No. 173 of 2018). 42 International Organisation for Migration, World Migration Report, 2018, Chapter 3, ‘Migration and migrants: regional dimensions and developments’. Among the refugees, 126,688 were from Syria; 35,737 from Sudan, and 14,452 from Ethiopia; the remaining included Eritreans, South Sudanese, Iraqis, Somalis and Yemenis. 43 North Africa Mixed Migration Hub, ‘Country Brief: Egypt’, March 2018. Available at http://www.mixedmigrationhub.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Country-Profile-Egypt.pdf 44 Dahir n° 1-57-271 du 26 août 1957 relatif à l’application de la convention de Genève relative au statut des réfugiés et décret n° 2-57-1256 du 29 août 1957 fixant les modalités d’application de la Convention relative au statut des réfugiés signée à Genève le 28 juillet 1951; Décret n° 2-57-1256 du 29 août 1957 fixant les modalités d’application de la Convention relative au statut des réfugiés du 28 juillet 1951 (tel que modifié par le décret du 8 octobre 1970 et par le décret n° 2-84-856 du 28 décembre 1984). 45 Ministère chargé des Marocains Résidant à l’Étranger et des Affaires de la Migration, “Stratégie Nationale d’Immigration et d’Asile”, December 2014. Available at http://www.marocainsdumonde.gov.ma/ sites/default/files/Fichiers/Pages/strat%C3%A9gie%20Nationale.pdf 46 Loi n° 02-03 du 11 novembre 2003 relative à l’entrée et au séjour des étrangers au Royaume du Maroc, à l’émigration et l’immigration irrégulières; implemented by Décret n° 2-10-60718 du 1 avril 2010. 47 Six categories of migrants in irregular status potentially benefited from this programme: foreign spouses of Moroccan nationals living together for at least two years, and their children; foreigners married to other foreigners with regular status in Morocco, living together for at least four years, and their children; foreigners with employment contracts in place for at least two years; foreigners with at least five years residence in Morocco; and foreigners with serious illnesses resident in Morocco before 31 December 2013. See ‘Informations communiquées par le Conseil National des Droits de l’Homme du Royaume du Maroc’, UN Human Rights Council, A/HRC/25/NI/1, 24 February 2014; Ministère Chargé des Marocains Résidant à l’Etranger et des Affaires de la Migration, ‘Guide pratique pour faciliter votre 41