Middle East

Amnesty criticises EU-Egypt deal on economy and migration

EU will assist Egypt in fortifying its borders in return for €7.4 billion in aid

European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen with Egypt president Abdel Fattah el-Sisi on Sunday in Cairo. Photograph: Dirk Waem / Belga via AFP
European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen with Egypt president Abdel Fattah el-Sisi on Sunday in Cairo. Photograph: Dirk Waem / Belga via AFP
Sun Mar 17 2024 - 17:39

The European Union has announced a €7.4 billion aid package for cash-strapped Egypt.

The EU will provide assistance to Egypt to fortify its borders, especially with Libya, a major transit point for migrants fleeing poverty and conflicts in Africa and the Middle East.

The deal has drawn criticism from rights groups over Egypt’s human rights record. Amnesty International urged European leaders not to be complicit with human rights violations taking place in Egypt.

The agreement was signed on Sunday afternoon in Cairo in a ceremony attended by Egyptian president Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen and leaders of Belgium, Italy, Austria, Cyprus and Greece.

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Mr El-Sisi met Ms von der Leyen and other European leaders separately, before the signing ceremony on Sunday afternoon.

The aid package includes grants and loans over the next three years for the Arab world’s most populous country, according to the EU’s mission in Cairo. Most of the funds – €5 billion – are macro-financial assistance, according to a document from the EU mission in Egypt.

The mission said the two sides had promoted their co-operation to the level of a “strategic and comprehensive partnership”, paving the way for expanding Egypt-EU co-operation in various economic and noneconomic areas.

[ Sally Hayden: EU adds Egypt to the list of countries it is paying to keep migrants out ]

Mr El-Sisi’s office said the deal aims to achieve “a significant leap in co-operation and co-ordination between the two sides and to achieve common interests”.

The deal, known as the Joint Declaration, aims among other things to promote “democracy, fundamental freedoms, human rights, and gender equality”, the European Commission has said.

Both sides will also deepen their co-operation to address challenges related to migration and terrorism.

The 27-nation bloc will also support the Egyptian government in hosting Sudanese who have fled nearly a year of fighting between rival generals in their country. Egypt received more than 460,000 Sudanese since April last year.

The deal comes amid growing concerns in Europe that Israel’s looming ground offensive on Gaza’s southernmost town of Rafah could force hundreds of thousands of people to break into Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula. The Israel-Hamas war, now in its sixth month, has pushed more than one million people to Rafah.

Egypt says there are nine million migrants, including about 480,000 who are registered refugees and asylum seekers with the UN refugee agency.

Many of those migrants have established their own businesses, while others work in the huge informal economy as street vendors and house cleaners.

The deal would inject much-needed funds into the Egyptian economy, which has been hit hard by years of government austerity, the coronavirus pandemic, the fallout from Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and most recently, the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.

Egypt reached a deal with the International Monetary Fund earlier this month to increase a bailout loan to €7.4 billion, after marathon negotiations. The deal with the IMF was combined with economic reforms that included the flotation of the Egyptian pound and a sharp raising of the main interest rate.

[ Sally Hayden: The EU is spending huge sums to block migrants ]

The EU deal follows the template of those recently signed with Tunisia and Mauritania that pledged funds in return for fortifying their borders. Both Tunisia and Mauritania were key points of departure for migrants crossing the Mediterranean and a stretch of the Atlantic to Italy and Spain, respectively.

The package drew criticism from international rights groups over Egypt’s human rights record. “EU leaders must ensure that the Egyptian authorities adopt clear benchmarks for human rights,” said Eve Geddie, Amnesty International’s head of the European institutions office. Ms Geddie pointed to Egypt’s restrictions on media and freedom of expression and a crackdown on civil society.