The European Union (EU) signed an agreement with Egypt on Sunday for the first phase of a border management program worth 80 million euros, at a time when Egyptian migration to Europe through Libya is increasing, according to a statement by the EU Mission in Cairo.

The project aims to help the Egyptian border and coast guards reduce illegal migration and human trafficking along its borders and provides for the procurement of surveillance equipment such as search and rescue vessels, thermal cameras and satellite positioning systems, according to an EU Commission document published this October,

In 2021 more than 26,500 Egyptians were stopped at the Libyan border, according to the EU Commission document.