EU EXTERNAL PARTNERS: IOM signs agreement on voluntary returns with Algeria – NGO report highlights mass deportations from Algeria to Niger – EU releases €1 billion to Egypt amidst concerns –UN experts issue warning over refugee rights violations in Eg…

• The International Organization for Migration has signed a partnership agreement with Algeria on voluntary returns.
• An NGO report has highlighted the mass deportation of people on the move by authorities in Algeria.
• The European Commission has disbursed €1 billion in macro-financial assistance to Egypt.
• A group of experts from the United Nations have issued a stark warning about human rights violations committed against people on the move in Egypt.
• A mass grave containing the bodies of 21 people has been found in northeastern Libya.
• Security forces have rescued more than 200 people from a secret detention facility in southeastern Libya.

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) has signed a partnership agreement with Algeria on voluntary returns. The deal is intended to expand the north African country’s capacity to house and process people who have applied to be part of the IOM’s voluntary return programme. According to the IOM, it supported more than 9,500 people to return home voluntarily from Algeria in 2025. Commenting on the agreement, IOM Director General Amy Pope described Algeria as a “key partner in regional migration governance” and emphasised that joint efforts to address irregular migration could “create pathways rooted in opportunity and dignity”.

An NGO report has highlighted the mass deportation of people on the move by authorities in Algeria. According to the report by Alarm Phone Sahara (APS), at least 34,236 people were deported from Algeria to the desert along the Niger border in both official and unofficial convoys in 2025. The NGO also noted that at least seven deaths  occurred during these deportations and that the actual number of deported people is likely to be higher than the figure it cited. APS attributed the rise in deportations to increased collaboration among countries in the region who were “encouraged by EU Member States”. It also criticised the IOM’s “repressive response” to protests by people who had experienced deportation, condemned the lengthy procedures of “voluntary return” programmes and called for “humane and supportive solutions, in cooperation with those affected”.

The European Commission (EC) has disbursed €1 billion in macro-financial assistance (MFA) to Egypt. This payment is the first of three expected MFA instalments which were agreed as part of the March 2024 EU-Egypt Strategic Comprehensive Partnership. It was made on 15 January following the EC’s assessment that Egypt had met all the necessary conditions, including economic reforms and progress on democracy and the rule of law. According to EC President Ursula Von der Leyen, the payment was evidence of “both the EU’s commitment to this partnership and Egypt’s efforts to build a stronger and greener economy”. Commenting on the MFA disbursement, the director of the NGO Refugees Platform in Egypt, Nour Khalil, told ECRE that he had serious doubts about the EC’s assessment of Egypt’s progress on democracy and the rule of law, and that he was interested to know more about the grounds on which it had concluded that Egypt had met benchmarks on democracy, rule of law, and human rights. He also asked how the EU viewed the systematic abuse of refugees in Egypt, the lack of credible and competitive elections in the country, and the ongoing repression of opposition politicans and independent organisations. Finally, he suggested that the message that both refugees in Egypt and Egyptians would hear from the MFA payment would be that the EU was “willing to deepen financial and political co-operation with Egyptian authorities despite the continued violations of both refugee and citizens’ rights”.

A group of experts from the United Nations (UN) have issued a stark warning about human rights violations committed against people on the move in Egypt. In October 2025, the UN Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially women and children; the UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants; the UN Independent Expert on protection against violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity; and the UN Working Group on discrimination against women and girls published a joint communication in which they highlighted multiple forms of systematic violence, including arbitrary detention, forced deportation, confiscation of asylum documents and lack of legal protections. The experts also cited reports that indicated a sharp rise in arrests between 2024 and 2025, including people being detained on the streets and in their homes during random police identity checks that were carried out without legal basis or individual suspicion, and often targeting individuals based on race and skin colour.

A mass grave containing the bodies of 21 people has been found in northeastern Libya. The discovery in the town of Ajdabiya was reportedly made on 15 January after security forces responded to reports of people from sub-Saharan Africa being held in the area. A security official told the Reuters news agency: “We found migrants – men, women and children – bearing signs of torture. They were taken to a hospital where they reported that other migrants had been with them and then disappeared”. It is understood that there may have been “up to 10” survivors.

Elsewhere, security forces have rescued more than 200 people from a secret detention facility in the southeast of Libya. According to “two security sources” who were “speaking on condition of anonymity”, the operation took place on 18 January in the town of Kufra. One source told Reuters that some of the freed people had been “held captive [for] up to two years in the underground cells” while the other described the activities that had taken place at the facility as “one of the most serious crimes against humanity that has been uncovered in the region”. Commenting on the discovery of both the mass grave and the detention facility, IOM Chief of Mission in Libya Nicoletta Giordano said: “the horrific abuses uncovered in both Ajdabiya and Kufra underscore the urgent need to strengthen protection mechanisms, combat trafficking and smuggling, and support accountability processes for perpetrators”.

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