Egypt to receive fast EU financial aid
Egypt is set to receive fast-tracked EU funding in exchange for anti-immigration deals, according to The Associated Press.
The 1-billion-euro donation is a part of a 7.4 billion euro financial assistance plan for the oil-rich country which was announced on the 17th March.
The EU financial package contains three year’s worth of grants and favourable loans. European Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen declared it was “imperative to make sure that a first significant contribution” would reach Egypt by the end of 2024, due to the “rapidly deteriorating economic and fiscal situation,” the country faces.
Egypt’s dire economic situation has resulted in the sidestepping of safeguard policies and the employment of treaties that were not even used to address the instability of the COVID-19 pandemic or the outbreak of war in Ukraine.
Read: Egypt said to have agreed 8bn USD IMF loan conditions
At least 200 million euros will go towards Egyptian “migration management”.
Although the Egyptian coast is not a current hot spot for migration or human trafficking, the EU fears that the Israel-Hamas war may cause an increase in the migratory crossings over the Mediterranean.
Reuters reported that Italy’s Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, regards the EU financial incentives as “the best way to address migratory flows”. In February, Egypt floated its currency in a state of emergency as 1 USD equated to 30.9 EGP.
The Human Rights Watch criticised the “flawed EU deals” as the EU’s “strategic partnerships” with Tunisia and Mauritania have shown that the EU’s only objective is to “stop migrants, ignore abuses.”
Migrants throughout North Africa experience constant human rights violations and appalling conditions through police brutality, violence, deportation, starvation, and sexual assault, leaving them vulnerable and without proper shelter.
The EU has been criticised by international human rights organisations such as Amnesty International as they fear that any funding to “curb migration” may be used to enable the degradation of the quality of life for many migrants within the country’s they seek refuge.
AP/Reuters
