Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to work with the Egyptian government to prevent people traffickers operating from (a) Alexandria and (b) other Egyptian ports.

Government officials regularly engage the Egyptian authorities on irregular migration. Most recently, senior officials from the Home Office met their Egyptian counterparts on 27 April to discuss a range of issues, including how best to co-operate on countering irregular migration. They are now considering what areas of technical expertise and programmatic support we can provide the Egyptian authorities to strengthen their enforcement capabilities. The UK is also contributing to the “European Union Naval Force – Mediterranean” mission, aimed at disrupting human smuggling and trafficking networks in the Mediterranean and reducing the loss of life at sea.