Mounir SATOURI (Greens/EFA, FR), Tineke STRIK (Greens/EFA, NL), rapporteurs and Karen MELCHIOR (Renew, DK) hold a press conference on EU-Egypt partnership. This transcription is a result of an automatic process. Please check against delivery.

statement

Strasbourg

plenary session

EU - Egypt (T)

press conference

SATOURI, Mounir (Greens/EFA, FR)

MELCHIOR, Karen (Renew, DK)

STRIK, Tineke (Greens/EFA, NL)

Press Conference by Mounir SATOURI (Greens/EFA, FR), Tineke STRIK (Greens/EFA, NL), rapporteurs and Karen MELCHIOR (Renew, DK) on EU-Egypt: a strategic partnership for whom?

https://api.multimedia.europarl.europa.eu/documents/20125/76125584/1713968067924_I256406Chapters%5BSD-EN%5D.srt

SOUNDBITE (French), Mounir SATOURI (Greens/EFA, FR), Rapporteur, Thank you. Good afternoon everyone. I usually say at this point in time that I'm delighted to be here to talk about this and out of this today. But this time, that isn't the case, because it's a shame we have to talk about this right now. There is this new strategic partnership that the Commission has announced between the EU and Egypt, and that involves a 7.4 billion that is going to be paid to Egypt, including 5 billion in loans, 600 million in grants, and that is going to all be financed by the partners.

SOUNDBITE (French), Mounir SATOURI (Greens/EFA, FR), Rapporteur, The Council has approved this package and it has said that luckily for the Commission, that all the specific measures need to be taken. So that there will be democracy respected, the rule of law and human rights. This morning we came to remind Madame Ursula von der Leyen of this obligation that the Commission has. So far, there is no timetable for Egypt's reforms, and the claims that have been made are not tangible or credible. We don't have any specific information as to what is going to happen.

SOUNDBITE (French), Mounir SATOURI (Greens/EFA, FR), Rapporteur, Human rights are constantly being violated in Egypt. Yesterday, 15 men and three women were stopped in front of the UN offices because they wanted only to submit a petition on the conditions in Gaza. We need to make sure that there are these crucial measures in place and that they are specific. We are asking the Commission here to stop Egypt censoring the Egyptian media to release these 300 political prisoners and guarantee migrant and refugee rights.

SOUNDBITE (French), Mounir SATOURI (Greens/EFA, FR), Rapporteur, These are just some avenues which we feel would bring us back to European values and principles and make sure that during this legislative term. Madame von der Leyen hasn't just been a bank for these kind of dictatorial regimes. We are expecting to see some tangible measures from the European Commission and Madam von der Leyen. And I would like to hand over to my colleagues now who have been involved since the very beginning in the respect of European rights. Thank you.

SOUNDBITE (English), Tineke STRIK (Greens/EFA, NL), Rapporteur, Thank you very much. Welcome to this press conference. And indeed, this is not the first so-called migration deal that the EU is concluding with a third country, and also not the first time that it's within the dictatorial regime. And because of the focus of the EU on migration is moving more and more towards the outside world of the EU to third country in order to stop irregular migration into the EU, I made a report which was adopted already three years ago about how to deal with this cooperation on migration.

SOUNDBITE (English), Tineke STRIK (Greens/EFA, NL), Rapporteur, In that report which the European Parliament adopted, we called for fundamental rights impact assessment before we enter into cooperation to make sure that the impact of such a cooperation is not detrimental to the human rights of migrants and refugees, that there's an independent monitoring system, that there's democratic control, and that people can go to a court if they are affected, if their rights are affected, if they don't get access to protection. And also, we said there should be much more transparency. And the money that goes into that cooperation should also be under Democratic control. Now, my colleague Mounir already showed that this is far from the case with Egypt.

SOUNDBITE (English), Tineke STRIK (Greens/EFA, NL), Rapporteur, But talking about the human rights impacts, for migrants and refugees in Egypt, we know Egypt doesn't have an asylum system at all. We see that refugees who cross the border and enter into Egypt, like a lot of Sudanese refugees, are deported back immediately into Sudan. Or if they're not deported, they're completely abandoned. They don't have access to any basic needs. Even those who managed to go to UNHCR, because UNHCR is active in the country, if they managed to register, if they even managed to get protection, they don't have access to a health system, to an education system, and they can be deported at any moment.

SOUNDBITE (English), Tineke STRIK (Greens/EFA, NL), Rapporteur, Egypt does not recognise the work that UNHCR does and doesn't safeguard, the protection and the safety of the refugees. So their refugees and migrants face systemic barriers into their access to protection and are subject to arbitrary arrests and deportation. And you cannot disconnect this to the autocracy that Egypt has become under the regime of Sisi. There are now 70,000 political prisoners, but also the work of NGOs, lawyers, journalists has completely, been made impossible.

SOUNDBITE (English), Tineke STRIK (Greens/EFA, NL), Rapporteur, We have seen in Tunisia what this also means for people working and advocating for the rights for refugees and migrants. They hardly can do their job. They cannot express criticism and also after the deal with Tunisia, we see that only more people have been deported into the desert, and are arrested by the Tunisian regime. So, doing these deals with a dictatorship with an autocrat means facto, and we really see it every time, that the rights are actually more under pressure because it leads to more repression, because the country says, "I don't want to be responsible for all of them", and it leads to more repression on all those people, actors who try to protect refugees and migrants.

SOUNDBITE (English), Tineke STRIK (Greens/EFA, NL), Rapporteur, And we don't hear criticism because they, the people are not allowed to express the criticism. So, that also shows us if we learn from Tunisia, that is very dangerous to enter in such the same deal now with Egypt. It does not only lead to more human rights violations and more oppression, but it doesn't even stop irregular migration because people are not safe in Egypt, and they will need to flee to keep on fleeing the suppression in Egypt. And we see that also with Tunisia, it actually leads to more people, fleeing and looking for protection in Europe and not only third country nationals refugees, but even Tunisians because of the oppression. I'm sure that we will see a repetition of this story with this new deal. Thank you.

SOUNDBITE (English), Karen MELCHIOR (Renew, DK), Thank you very much. Both Tineke and Mounir has underlined the simple demands that we, as a European Parliament, have to the Commission and the member states. If we want to go into partnerships with third countries, we don't give them a blank check. If we go into a partnership with a dictatorship, we don't give the money to the dictator and say, "you can do whatever you, please". We talk to the civil society, we talk to, for example, U.N. organisations, perhaps would give the money to the UNHCR in Egypt rather than giving it to the Egyptian government.

SOUNDBITE (English), Karen MELCHIOR (Renew, DK), We have a report that a Tineke did three years ago on a how to do migration partnerships. All of this is being ignored by the Council and by the Commission. They are not using the legislative procedures, the consultation procedures that they should, within the European Parliament, because they want to ignore what we have to say, which is quite reasonable. Simple respect of fundamental rights and respect of refugees. This is being ignored, and that's why they do emergency procedures and press conferences with heads of state and strongmen in third countries.

SOUNDBITE (English), Karen MELCHIOR (Renew, DK), This is why this Parliament need to take these agreements seriously. It's part of the election campaign for the European elections, for Ursula von der Leyen, wanting to be supported by the far right. We need to look at the roles of the institutions, we need to insist on the role of the Parliament, it needs to be included, and the Commission cannot circumvent our rules of procedure with between the institutions. It cannot circumvent the checks and balances that we have in the EU, just because it is politically useful. We have decided in this Parliament a couple of months ago to start a case against the Commission for giving a blank check to Orban. We should start a case against the Commission for giving blank checks to dictators in third countries. Thank you.

SOUNDBITE (English), Moataz EL FEGIERY, Human Rights Lawyer, Thank you, the distinguished member of the European Parliament who organised and participated in this conference. We appreciate the role played by this Parliament over the past two years on several occasions to support the rights of the Egyptian people and the human rights movement, the struggle for justice and freedom. I will start with the title of this conference, Strategic Partnership for whom? Supports the longer term goal of the EU-egypt strategic and comprehensive partnership is to achieve shared prosperity, stability and security.

SOUNDBITE (English), Moataz EL FEGIERY, Human Rights Lawyer, In that case, the fundamental criteria of respect for human rights and the rule of law should clearly and transparently guide its implementation in close consultation with a genuine civil society and human rights defenders. It is, however, disappointing that we have been observing the formal position and narrative of the EU towards a crisis of human rights in Egypt have become weak and inconsistent since the convening of the Association Council meeting with Egypt in July 2017, and up to the latest Association Council held in January this year.

SOUNDBITE (English), Moataz EL FEGIERY, Human Rights Lawyer, This narrative, unfortunately overestimates the impact of the limited and tactical concessions taken by the Egyptian authorities since late 2020 to improve its international image, and managed to secure more support to save the ailing economy from collapse. However, there is solid evidence that the political landscape of human rights continues to be severely restricted and intimidating. Egypt continues to be a republic of fear. There are still thousands of imprisoned political activists and the human rights defenders, travel ban orders and asset freeze continue to be used as a weapon against dissenters for years.

SOUNDBITE (English), Moataz EL FEGIERY, Human Rights Lawyer, The flagrant and ironic use of counter-terrorist measures and listing against peaceful activists, lawyers and human rights defenders have not stopped. The conditions of prison and detention centres are appalling and cause occasional death of several detainees and the prisoner. The civil space is completely controlled by the state and its security and intelligence agencies, whose intrusive powers engineering the constitutional and the representative institutions, including the latest sham and the uncompetitive presidential election held in December last year.

SOUNDBITE (English), Moataz EL FEGIERY, Human Rights Lawyer, Independent human rights defenders and NGO cannot walk freely inside Egypt. Free and critical NGOs cannot register under the Draconian NGO Law without being exposed to systematic intervention from the security services. A white community of human rights defenders, political activists and journalists continue to live in exile. However, they have been also targeted by the state in what is known as transnational repression. For example, independent human rights NGOs have documented cases of reprisal against the family of members. The government systematically denies activists from receiving consulate services and obtaining their IDs and passport, leaving them no option but to seek asylum. So, Egypt exported asylum seekers and irregular migrants.

SOUNDBITE (English), Moataz EL FEGIERY, Human Rights Lawyer, I should recall here that when the President of Egypt declared the National Dialogue Initiative in April 2023, thousands of activists outside and inside Egypt expressed their willingness to constructively engage with the initiative, provided that the government implement a series of reform measures to build confidence. However, most of these demands were disregarded and the national dialogue intentionally excluded key independent voices outside and inside Egypt.

SOUNDBITE (English), Moataz EL FEGIERY, Human Rights Lawyer, To conclude, I stressed that the EU should support the efforts of the Egyptian human rights movement by complementing, not jeopardising their work. Respect for human rights and the rule of law are necessary and addressing broader issues like immigration and the economic crisis stemming from unaccountable governance. Clear and transparent benchmarking is instrumental for the efficiency of EU partnership and Egypt. Any financial support given to Egypt should be linked and condition to genuine and measurable progress in the human rights landscape at the top of this condition is the enabling environment for civil society and human rights defenders. Thank you again for providing me with this space.

SOUNDBITE (English), Samar ELHUSSEINY, Human Rights Defender, Yes. Good evening, and thank you for having me. I speak to you today while a group of 15 women human rights defenders, lawyers, journalists and members of the National Human Rights Council and others were beaten and detained by the Egyptian security forces yesterday. And their whereabouts remained unknown for more than 24 hours. Some of which hold dual European and Egyptian nationalities. These brave defenders were simply delivering a letter to the UN office in Cairo, demanding protection and safety for women in Gaza and Sudan.

SOUNDBITE (English), Samar ELHUSSEINY, Human Rights Defender, This is the regime you're currently discussing, giving a blank check to an authoritarian, repressive regime that had put tens of thousands of prisoners of conscience and human rights defenders behind bars and imposed restrictions on freedom of assembly, association, protest and expression. You cannot keep pouring water into an empty pot and expect to change. The current regime is broken and its practices are the recurring and rigorous. Your constant unconditional support is only enabling it as this deal moves forward. We remind you of your commitment towards promoting democracy and human rights.

SOUNDBITE (English), Samar ELHUSSEINY, Human Rights Defender, Upholding human rights should be a cornerstone for any strategic partnership. We urge you to have a clear, time bound benchmarks for advancing human rights situation in Egypt in the Memorandum of Understanding. The deal in front of us focuses on the prevention aspect of migration without providing adequate protection tools for migrants and refugees in Egypt, especially in light of the recent attacks on Sudanese communities and the current war profiteer situation on Rafah borders.

SOUNDBITE (English), Samar ELHUSSEINY, Human Rights Defender, We urge you also to include the following benchmarks in the MoU, releasing all arbitrarily detained human rights defenders and political activists, lifting restrictions on freedom of assembly and independent media, opening up political and civic space in preparation for the upcoming parliamentary elections in 2025, establishing protection tools for migrants and refugees from intimidation, harassment and other forms of exploitation and preventing forms of transnational repression practices against human rights defenders. All these dimensions and more must be at the forefront of this discussion. This regime's actions speaks louder than their words, and your support for this deal, without clear and precise benchmarks, will only encourage its repressive tactics. It's time to take a strong stand and put human rights at the centre of your agenda. Thank you again for having me and for this space.

Q&A, Question regarding on Commission's response to Council recommendation in terms of the conditionality on Egypt-EU relations . Second question on the relationship between EU and Egypt and the guarantees of the framework.

SOUNDBITE (French), Mounir SATOURI (Greens/EFA, FR), Rapporteur, -

SOUNDBITE (English), Tineke STRIK (Greens/EFA, NL), Rapporteur, -

SOUNDBITE (English), Karen MELCHIOR (Renew, DK), -

Q&A, Question regarding on the agreement between Parliament, Council and Commission on Egypt-EU relations given that the new institutional cycle is about to start.

Q&A, Question regarding on taking the Commission to the Court for not respecting their obligations under the Treaty.

SOUNDBITE (English), Moataz EL FEGIERY, Human Rights Lawyer, -