Due to Egypt’s role as a “migration buffer,” the EU has provided substantial financial and logistical assistance with the goal of managing migration routes – writes EUobserver.
Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, and Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, president of Egypt, signed a Joint Declaration on the Strategic and Comprehensive Partnership in March 2024, highlighting collaboration on economic stability, security, and migration.
The EU announced a €7.4 billion aid package in 2024 as part of this partnership, which included €600 million in grants, €1.8 billion in investments, and €5 billion in concessional loans.
Later in the year, another €1 billion was distributed as part of the Macro-Financial Assistance program. According to EU and IMF reports, these funds supplemented the IMF’s expanded loan program to Egypt, which grew from €2.9 billion to €1 billion over the same time period. Egypt received about €10.2 billion in loans and aid overall.
Egypt’s Asylum Bill: a System of Oppression
The new asylum bill from Egypt, which was presented as an attempt to control refugee status, has come under heavy fire for its restrictive clauses and ambiguous wording. The lack of definitions for concepts like “public order” and “national security” permits sweeping interpretations that support capricious actions against refugees.
The bill was defended by Major General Ahmed Al-Awadi, the chairman of the Egyptian Parliament’s Defence and National Security Committee, who said it “aligns with Egypt’s international obligations” and protects the rights of refugees without charging extra. The law has drawn criticism from Amnesty International for shifting duties from the UNHCR to national authorities without sufficient protections.
Their concern is that the bill could jeopardize refugee protections, particularly in light of its connection to Egypt’s harsh anti-terror legislation.
Tens of thousands of journalists and peaceful dissenters, have been imprisoned under the anti-terror law, which is notorious for its expansive definitions, for unfair trials or protracted pretrial detention. Previously seeking safety in Egypt, refugees now run the risk of being subjected to the same oppressive system.
An Increase in Hate Campaigns Against Migrants
Between November 10–23, 2024, more than 86,000 anti-refugee posts spread on social media, reaching over 13 million users. These campaigns, which are frequently driven by nationalist discourse, portray refugees as threats to sovereignty and hold them responsible for economic hardships.
The wider region has also been affected by this dynamic. As governments use Egypt’s securitized migration control model, migrants stuck in Tunisia and Libya experience similar repression, increasing the risks for those escaping persecution.
This goal is in line with Egypt’s function as a border guard for Europe, since EU funding reinforces the regime’s hold while downplaying responsibility for abuses.
Furthermore, similar actions have been encouraged in Egypt by the normalization of anti-migrant rhetoric in Europe. The far-right’s portrayal of migrants as cultural threats and financial liabilities is echoed in Egypt’s xenophobic discourses and online hate campaigns.
The EU’s migration partnership with Egypt represents a risky compromise in which political expediency is put ahead of human rights. Drastic laws and an increase in hate speech, which are being fueled by European security policies, pose an additional threat to refugees who are already at risk of violence and exploitation. Cooperation without supervision runs the risk of sustaining repression in Egypt and harming the EU’s reputation internationally, as critics warns.