EU EXTERNAL PARTNERS: NGOs demand release of detained journalists in Egypt ― Egyptian NGO highlights deaths in detention and during deportation procedures― Egyptian government reject s possibility of hosting EU ‘return hub’ ― NGOs renew criticism of Fr…

• NGOs have raised concerns following the arrest of journalists from an investigative news website in Egypt.
• A new NGO report has highlighted dozens of cases of people dying in detention or during deportation procedures in Egypt.
• The Egyptian government has indicated that it would not be willing to serve as a “return hub” for unsuccessful asylum applicants from the EU.
• A group of NGOs has renewed its criticism of the European Border and Coast Guard Agency’s (Frontex) co-operation with authorities in Libya.
• The head of the largest political group in the European Parliament (EP) has warned the Moroccan government that it would face “obvious consequences” if the border between Morocco and the Spanish enclave of Ceuta could not be “stabilised”.

NGOs have raised concerns following the arrest of journalists from an investigative news website in Egypt. On 1 October, 80 organisations published a joint statement in which they denounced the arrest of six journalists – constituting the entirety of the newsroom – from the Matsada2sh investigative journalism platform on 28 and 29 September. The NGOs underlined that independent journalism was “critical in any free society and Egyptian authorities’ failure to allow free exercise of expression to thrive flies in the face of a purported commitment to dialogue, transparency, anti-corruption, and regional leadership”. They also called on Egyptian authorities to “halt any and all targeting directed at the Matsadaash platform and to release all journalists detained or imprisoned for their work in Egypt”. The arrests took place a few weeks before the first anniversary of the first-ever EU-Egypt summit in October 2025 which itself followed the signing of the EU-Egypt Strategic and Comprehensive Partnership in March 2024.

A new NGO report has highlighted dozens of cases of people dying in detention or during deportation procedures in Egypt. According to the report by the Refugees Platform in Egypt (RPE), at least 24 deaths occurred “inside detention facilities or were related to arrest, transfer and pre-deportation detention procedures” between December 2025 and July 2026. The report is based on a review of various documents, including case files, police reports and medical and forensic reports, as well as testimonies from the victims’ families, witnesses and survivors. RPE has called on the Public Prosecutor’s Office to “open and complete independent, effective investigations into all cases of death, and to ensure that forensic reports as well as investigation findings are made available to the families and their lawyers”. It has also called on the Ministry of the Interior to “halt arrest and administrative detention campaigns targeting forcibly displaced people; ensure medical examinations upon detention, urgent care, and immediate referral to hospitals when necessary; improve physical conditions of detention; and ensure the protection of children, women, the elderly, and people with chronic illnesses or disabilities”.

The Egyptian government has indicated that it would not be willing to operate a “return hub” for unsuccessful asylum applicants from the EU. According to the New Arab news website, Egyptian Minister of Foreign Affairs Badr Abdelatty dismissed the idea of establishing return hubs in North African countries in a meeting with EU member state ambassadors on 10 September in Cairo. Abdelatty reportedly told the diplomats that Egypt “refuses the mere discussion of such a proposal under all circumstances” and that it bore “a huge refugee burden already”. The Cairo meeting took place less than a week after five EU member states (Austria, Denmark, Germany, Greece and the Netherlands) agreed on a “common model” for return hubs to be established by 2027 without specifying any partner countries.

A group of NGOs has renewed its criticism of the European Border and Coast Guard Agency’s (Frontex) co-operation with authorities in Libya. On 1 October, Front-LEX, Refugees in Libya and Sea-Watch co-organised a public event in Brussels in which they highlighted the ongoing case of a young Sudanese asylum applicant trapped in Libya allegedly due in part to Frontex’s information sharing. According to a press release issued after the recent event, evidence submitted with the ‘FM v. Frontex’ case, which was filed in October 2024, documents that the agency “shared 2,200 emails communicating the exact geolocation of refugee boats with Libyan actors between 2021 and 2023, enabling their interception and forcible return”. Commenting on the case, the head of Front-Lex, Iftach Cohen, said: “Frontex’s sharing with Libyan actors of the location of refugee boats it detects enables them to pull those refugees back to Libya, where they are subjected to crimes against humanity, including murder, rape, enslavement and torture. By handing these people back to their perpetrators, Frontex systematically violates its fundamental rights obligations concerning the principle of non-refoulement and the prohibition of torture”.

The head of the largest political group in the European Parliament (EP) has warned the Moroccan government that it would face “obvious consequences” if the border between Morocco and the Spanish enclave of Ceuta could not be “stabilised”. Manfred Weber MEP made the statement during a visit to Ceuta on 22 September. Although he did not specify what the “obvious” consequences might entail, Weber was reportedly referring to trade agreements, security co-operation and “other issues of great importance” in the relationship between the EU and Morocco. His warning came five days after the EP adopted a resolution in which it inter alia called on Moroccan authorities to “fulfil their responsibilities as a key partner of the European Union and honour their commitments on border management, return and migration cooperation”.

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