Controversy Arises Over the European Union’s $8 Billion Aid Package for Egypt
Part of the deal is to stem migration flows to Europe but watchdog groups insist it overlooks the El-Sisi government’s record and breaches of human rights.
There has been widespread criticism that the move violates humanitarian law.
EU leaders late last month sealed a 7.4 billion euro ($8 billion) deal with Egypt to help boost the north African country’s faltering economy and to stem migration flows to Europe.
The three-year EU-Egypt strategic partnership involves $5.45 billion in soft loans to support economic changes, $1.96 billion to support investments from the private sector and $654 million in grants, including $218 million for migration management.
“Migration is a global phenomenon that must be addressed in cooperation with countries of origin, transit and destination alike, and it must be managed in full respect of international law,” the SPP told The Epoch Times in an email.
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“This is fully in line with the EU’s Pact on Migration and Asylum, which calls on developing migration partnerships to address this phenomenon.
“With this partnership, the EU aims to support Egypt and its people in tackling the different crises it is facing, to protect shared prosperity and stability and to accompany Egypt’s socio-economic development and macro-economic reforms,” it wrote.
Like the previous deals, rights groups have sharply criticized the latest pact as ignoring humanitarian law.
The first major concern was raised by the European Union’s rights watchdog, Emily O’Reilly, who insisted such cooperation agreements ought to have factored in the issue of human rights while outlining redress in case of violations.
Miss Wigens described the EU’s aid package to Egypt as an “unfortunate continuation” of a concerning trend where the EU readily compromises on its core values in favour of short-term political gains.
“These deals, along with the recent revision of the EU’s seven-year budget, mark a turning point for ‘Global Europe,’” Miss Wigens told The Epoch Times in an email.
Human Rights Watch has slammed the latest “cash-for-migration-control” deal with Egypt, saying it would “reward Egypt’s autocratic leader” President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.
Speaking in the same light, Amnesty International urged European leaders not to be complicit with rights violations taking place in Egypt.
But the EU SPP pushed back, stating that human rights remain a “high priority in our relationship with Egypt.”
It pointed out that the political framework for the EU’s bilateral relations with Egypt remains the Association Agreement and the Partnership Priorities mutually agreed in 2022, in which both parties commit to “further promote democracy, fundamental freedoms, and human rights, gender equality and equal opportunities.”
It also said the EU continues to discuss human rights matters regularly with Egyptian counterparts via such platforms as the sub-committee on Political Matters, Human Rights and Democracy (last held on Dec. 8, 2022) the Association Committee (May 22, 2023) and Association Council (Jan. 23, 2024) as well as through the engagement of the EU Special…
