In April 2025, the EU Commission issued a Proposal for creating a List of “Safe Countries of Origin” at the EU level. “Safe countries of origin” lists already exist at the individual Member Countries level under EU Directive 2013/32/EU, which enables States to classify some countries of origin as “safe”, thus fastening the examination of international protection applications from individuals arriving from those countries. The Commission’s Proposal intends to establish a list at the Union level by amending Regulation 2024/1348, creating a shared classification of countries of origin deemed “safe”. Among the countries proposed for classification as “safe” is Egypt, despite an appalling human rights record, which EU institutions chose once more to ignore in the name of strategic interests and the externalization of European borders.
Egypt has descended into the worst human rights crisis of its modern history following the military coup of 2013, where no one can be said ever to be safe from the risk of state violence. Evidence from human rights groups shows that Egyptian nationals returning from abroad- whether voluntarily or forcefully, and sometimes despite having sought asylum abroad- are frequently targeted by security forces through enforced disappearances, arbitrary trials and detention, and torture due to perceived connections to foreign countries.
In this position paper, we criticize the “safe countries list” tool because it undermines the fundamental right to seek asylum in the EU. The creation of such lists is underpinned by a flawed logic- that a country may be considered “overall” safe for people to be readmitted, which contradicts the very pillars of international asylum law, namely the duty to assess risk on a case-by-case basis, and the principle of non-refoulement. At the implementation level, “safe countries lists” represent a factor of discrimination in the treatment of applicants, as those coming from countries classified as “safe” have their applications fast-tracked, and risk facing prejudice stemming from the perception of their country of origin being “overall safe”.
The Commission’s Proposal, which the EU Council and Parliament will have to review to decide on its adoption, is motivated by a reason which has nothing to do with the defense of migrant people’s rights, but rather it aims at reducing the caseload of asylum courts across the EU. In other words, the Proposal subordinates human rights protection to a matter of efficiency in the EU asylum system by facilitating the work of repatriation mechanisms. This is extremely dangerous logic.
We call on the EU Parliament and Council to repeal the Commission’s Proposal, and to abandon “safe countries of origin” lists in the examination of asylum applications, for they infringe upon the fundamental rights to seek asylum and not to be discriminated against based on nationality. We urge EU institutions, particularly the EU Commission, to engage with international organizations, civil society, and independent voices in the assessment of Egypt’s human rights progress, disengaging from cooperation initiatives which may further aggravate impunity and undermine the basic rights of people in Egypt to live free from repression and violence.
This position paper is available in Arabic and English.
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