News in Brief

EU & Egypt Sign New Border Management Agreement

The European Union has signed an agreement with Egypt for the first phase of an €80 million border management programme, at a time when Egyptian migration to Europe has been rising.

The project aims to help Egypt’s coast and border guards reduce irregular migration and human trafficking along its border, and provides for the procurement of surveillance equipment such as search and rescue vessels, thermal cameras, and satellite positioning systems, according to an EU document published this month.

Since late 2016, irregular migration to Europe from Egypt’s northern coast has slowed sharply. However, migration of Egyptians across Egypt’s long desert border with Libya and from Libya’s Mediterranean coast to Europe has been on the rise, diplomats say.