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Egyptian authorities have started applying new regulations for the entry of Syrians with residencies in Europe; the United States; Canada, and Gulf countries into Egypt.

In the light of the new regulations, Syrian nationals with residencies in the aforementioned regions have to get from Egyptian embassies and consulates in their countries of residence before being allowed to enter Egypt.

The new requirement adds to the entry visa prerequisite for Syrians who want to enter the Arab country.

It has started coming into force earlier this week, causing concern among the members of the sprawling Syrian community in Egypt.

"Such regulations aim to protect Egyptian national security, but there are hopes among the Syrians that those living in Gulf countries can be exempted from these regulations," Tayseer al-Najjar, a Syrian community leader in Egypt, told °®Âþµº.

Most of the Syrians living in Egypt, he added, have relatives living or working in Gulf countries, who would find it hard to reunite with their families in Egypt with the new regulations.

Hundreds of thousands of Syrians live in Egypt, a refugee oasis that hosts around 9 million refugees from other countries, especially from the Arab region and Africa.

Most of these Syrians arrived in the populous Arab country after the eruption of the Syrian revolution and civil war in 2011.

In Egypt, the Syrians live inside Egyptian cities, side by side with Egyptians and others. Egypt extends all services to the refugee population, almost 8 percent of the population of 107 million, as it does its own people.

However, the new regulations are apparently causing problems to the Syrians who want to enter the Arab country.

A famous singer was reportedly recently from travelling to the country from Dubai because of the new regulations.

Syrian vocalist, Samo Zein, called on Egyptian authorities to allow him to enter Egypt where he has some business obligations, including a musical concert he has to attend in the Egyptian capital.

Fears of authorities

The Egyptian government deals very cautiously with the refugee issue, with the matter being at the centre of relations between Egypt and Europe in the past decade.

Usually branded as a 'transit state' for refugees and asylum-seekers in the past, Egypt has moved a long way on the road to preventing illegal migration from it, both for its own nationals and for the nationals of other countries.

In Europe, this Arab country is viewed as an important buffer against waves of illegal migrants across the Mediterranean.

For playing this role, Cairo is awarded in economic assistance and investment deals from the West.

The application of the security approval requirement nullifies a previous exemption from the same requirement for Syrians with residencies in the same regions.

Al-Najjar had a taste of the problems such a requirement might cause when it was effective in 2014.

He said his wife had to travel to Istanbul to reunite with some relatives who could not make it to Cairo then because of the security approval requirement.

The application of the requirement comes hard on the heels of the 8 December downfall of the regime of Bashar al-Assad, reflecting Egyptian concerns about the effects this development might have on the security situation in Syria and in the region.

There is belief in Egypt that the chaos resulting from Assad's overthrow may breathe new life for "terrorist organisations", including the Islamic State group (IS).

This concern was voiced out by Egyptian President, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, during his meeting with a host of journalists on 15 December, where he said a new wave of terrorism was likely in the wake of the latest developments in Syria.

He referred to sleeper cells that might come back to work in the coming period.

"Syria can turn into an Islamist emirate that is ruled by violent organisations," independent Islamism expert, Muneer Adeeb, told TNA.

"My estimate is that there are fears in Cairo from the dangers this prospect may cause to Egyptian national security," he added.

He noted that radicals can enter Egypt in the coming period after masquerading as ordinary Syrian nationals or refugees.

Egypt had its own branch of IS in Sinai, the Egyptian territory that shares borders with Israel and the Palestinian Gaza Strip and stands in proximity to the Suez Canal.

It took Egypt almost a decade of fighting to eradicate IS Sinai, paying dearly in the blood and the lives of its army troops and policemen, while also impacting the residents in the area.Ìý

The fear here is that an IS resurgence in Syria may incentivise dormant cells in Sinai and other parts of Egypt to come back to work and launch attacks.

Condemnation by rights groups

The new measures also come as rights groups step up their criticism of the new refugees and asylum-seekers law, which was approved by the Egyptian parliament last month.

The law establishes a new body that will rule into applications for refugee status by asylum-seekers.Ìý

To be called the Permanent Refugee Affairs Commission, the new body will be supervised by the Egyptian prime minister and made up of representatives of different state institutions.

The new law makes it necessary for asylum-seekers to submit applications for refugee status within 45 days from arrival.Ìý

It says asylum-seekers who fail to submit an application for refugee status within the specified period risk being jailed or fined.ÌýÌý

In the light of the law, those denied refugee status will have to leave Egypt for another country.ÌýÌý

The law was by Sisi on 16 December.

Nevertheless, the Refugees Platform in Egypt, a group that lobbies for the rights of refugees and asylum-seekers in the country, the law, referring to what it described as 'major problems' in it.

In a 16 December statement, the platform faulted the law for centralising the registration of refugees and asylum-seekers in the hands of the Egyptian government in the absence of oversight from international organisations and refugee groups.

It called for removing barriers to the registration of refugees and asylum-seekers and the provision of full access to essential services to the refugees.

Human Rights Watch also expressed fears that the new law would violate the rights of refugees and asylum-seekers.

The law, it said in a on 17 December, would hinder the work of United Nations agencies and others providing vital services and breach Egypt's obligations under international law.

"National asylum laws are sorely needed in North Africa, but Egypt rushing a flawed law through will only worsen the gaps in protection and risks facing refugees and asylum seekers," said Lauren Seibert, refugee and migrant rights' researcher at Human Rights Watch. "The government should heed the calls from civil society to revise this legislation in line with international standards."