EU EXTERNAL PARTNERS: Concerns about planned refugee law in Egypt ― EU-funded rescue centre in Libya finally set to open ― European Commission withholding outcomes of Tunisia human rights inquiry ― EU member states and NGOs condemn Israeli ban on UNRW…

• Egypt is planning to start registering refugees itself instead of relying on the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR).
• An EU-funded search and rescue centre in Libya is reportedly set to become fully operational following years of delays.
• The European Ombudsman has revealed that the European Commission withheld the findings of the human rights inquiry that it conducted prior to signing its migration deal with Tunisia.
• There was been widespread condemnation of Israel’s decision to ban the UN Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) from operating within its borders and occupied East Jerusalem.

Egypt is planning to start registering refugees itself instead of relying on the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR). According to Egyptian Deputy Assistant Foreign Minister for Migration, Refugee Affairs and Combating Human Trafficking, Dr Wael Badawi, the Egyptian government is currently preparing for the “transition from UNHCR” which has been “taking up some of the responsibility” since 1954. Badawi’s announcement, which was made on the first day of the 2024 Vienna Migration Conference, has raised concerns amongst various civil society organisations that have been highly critical of Egypt’s human rights record. They are likely to be particularly concerned about the potential impact of the proposed law on asylum on the large numbers of refugees who have travelled to Egypt in order to escape the ongoing violence in Sudan. According to a report on the situation in Egypt that was published by Amnesty International in June, “thousands of Sudanese refugees have been arbitrarily arrested and subsequently collectively expelled”. The report was published a few months after the EU signed a € 7.4 billion deal with Egypt which included € 200 million for “migration management”.

An EU-funded search and rescue (SAR) centre in Libya is reportedly set to become fully operational following years of delays. According to EUobserver, the Libyan maritime rescue coordination centre (MRCC), which was initially foreseen as part of a project launched in 2017, will become fully operational “soon”. Describing the development as “another step towards the externalisation of migration”, the site quotes a European Commission (EC) spokesperson as saying that “the mobile MRCC will be fully operational shortly”. The surprising news follows the publication in September of a report by the European Court of Auditors which was highly critical of the ongoing delays relating to the launch of the MRCC, including related training for the Libyan coastguard. It is also unlikely to be welcomed by the various SAR organisations that operate in the Central Mediterranean and that regularly denounce the violent tactics employed by Libyan coastguard personnel against people trying to travel to Europe in small boats.

The European Ombudsman has revealed that the EC withheld the findings of the human rights inquiry that it conducted prior to signing its migration deal with Tunisia. In a report on the findings of her office’s own-initiative inquiry into how the EC would guarantee respect for human rights in the context of the EU-Tunisia Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), which was signed in July 2023, European Ombudsman Emma O’Reilly found that “despite repeated claims by the Commission that there was no need for a prior HRIA, it had in fact completed a risk management exercise for Tunisia before the MoU was signed”. She also recommended that the EC should “publish on its website a summary of the risk management exercise it conducted for Tunisia before it signed the MoU” and “encourage its implementing partners to set up complaint mechanisms for individuals to report alleged violations of their human rights in the implementation of EU-funded projects/programmes in Tunisia”. Responding to the report, which was published on 21 October, an EC spokesperson said that their institution had taken note of the “decision and suggestions for improvement of the European Ombudsman” and reiterated its “full commitment to transparency and accountability” without setting out any specific measures to be undertaken.

There was been widespread condemnation of Israel’s decision to ban the UN Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) from operating within its borders and occupied East Jerusalem. The ban, which was approved by the Israeli parliament on 28 October, is expected to severely limit the agency’s ability to operate in Gaza and the West Bank. It was immediately denounced by UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini who described the vote as a “dangerous precedent” and one which “opposes the UN Charter and violates the State of Israel’s obligations under international law”. The governments of Ireland, Norway, Slovenia and Spain issued a joint statement in which they described UNRWA as “essential and irreplaceable for millions of Palestinian refugees in the region, and particularly in the current context in Gaza” and committed to “continue to work with donor and host countries to ensure the viability of UNRWA’s work and its humanitarian role.

On 31 October, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell issued a statement on behalf of the EU in which he said that: “If implemented, the laws will have far-reaching consequences, stopping all UNRWA’s operations in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, de facto preventing UNRWA’s vital operations in Gaza hampering UNRWA’s provision of health, education and social services in the West Bank and revoking UNRWA’s diplomatic privileges and immunities in Israel”. Meanwhile, European Council President Charles Michel told reporters in Geneva: “The decision made by parliament in Israel, if implemented, to ban UNRWA in Israel is absolutely not acceptable and I cannot imagine that there would be no consequences on the EU side”.

NGOs were equally critical in their responses to the Israeli parliament’s vote. On 29 October, ECRE member organisation the Norwegian Refugee Council X posted: “The Israeli Knesset’s vote this evening to expel UNRWA from its East Jerusalem headquarter will be catastrophic for the hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who depend on its assistance”. “No aid agencies can substitute its services. World leaders must intervene to stop this,” it added. Similarly, the International Rescue Committee X posted: “The Bill passed in the Israeli Parliament is an unprecedented attack on a UN agency and, if implemented, would only worsen the humanitarian catastrophe,” adding: “We strongly urge that this legislation is not applied”.

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