Answer given by Mr Várhelyi on behalf of the European Commission

24.8.2022

The Commission stands ready to support Egypt in maintaining its capacity to prevent irregular migration by sea, as well as to strengthen the control of its border with Libya and Sudan.

This is of particular importance in light of the six-fold increase of irregular arrivals of Egyptian nationals to the EU in 2021 (9 219), of which over 90% to Italy, mostly via Libya.

In this context, the Commission is currently developing an action in support of border management (search and rescue and border surveillance at land and sea borders) in close coordination with Egyptian authorities.

A total funding of EUR 80 million is envisaged, to be implemented in a two-phased approach: EUR 23 million in 2022 and EUR 57 million in 2023. As the action has not been adopted yet, no overview of equipment or services to be delivered to Egyptian authorities is available at this stage.

An ex ante risk assessment will be conducted and monitoring will take place throughout the action to ensure that it does not pose any threats to the respect of international human rights standards and the protection of refugees and migrants.