The EU delegation in Cairo has revealed that the European Union and Egypt have signed an agreement to launch the first phase of the 80 million Euro border management programme.
By signing the agreement, the authorities of the EU and those of Egypt aim to control illegal migration and human trafficking along Egypt’s border, practices that have been increasing significantly in the last months, according to Schengen Visa Info.
“The EU, IOM Egypt, and Civipolcf agree on a package to enhance EU-Egypt cooperation in migration management,” the EU in Egypt wrote on its official Twitter account.
Apart from helping Egyptian coast and border guards control illegal migration and human trafficking, the 80-million-Euro project aims to procure surveillance equipment such as thermal cameras, satellite positioning systems, and search and rescue vessels.
The agreement for the first phase of the project, for which 23 million Euros will be allocated, was signed by the EU Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement, Oliver Varhelyi, during a visit to Cairo, and it will be implemented by the International Organisation for Migration and CIVIPOL.
According to Reuters, the number of illegal entries from Egypt to Europe has decreased since late 2016. However, the migration of nationals of Egypt across the latter’s desert border with Libya and from the Mediterranean coast of Libya to Europe has been on the rise.
Data published by the Ministry of Interior of Italy shows that from the beginning of this year until October 28, a total of 16,413 migrants who reached the country by boat said that they were nationals of Egypt. Taking into account such a high number of arrivals so far this year, migrants from Egypt are the second largest group after those from Tunisia.
The document further stressed that Egypt is likely to register increased flows of migrants in the medium-long term due to several factors, such as regional instability, demographic shifts, climate change, and economic opportunities.
The EU Commission also said that to date, Egypt has addressed the matter of illegal migration mainly from a security perspective, oftentimes at the expense of other dimensions of migration management. At the same time, it highlighted that the programme would seek to develop the capacity of the Ministry of Defence of Egypt and other government stakeholders to apply protection-oriented approaches.
Watani International
1 November 2022