To preserve national security, the United States allowed $235 million in military aid to go to Egypt; the decision completely disregarded lawmakers in Washington concerns about human rights. $85 million of the military aid was withheld, which is a mere fraction (6%) of the $1.3 billion allocated for Egypt. The sum will be withheld until progress is made on the release of political prisoners, which Cario did not comply with. Human rights groups have accused President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi\u2019s government of torture and enforced disappearances. Project on Middle East Democracy (POMED) said in a statement: “This undermines any efforts by the administration to address human rights concerns in Egypt and will only further embolden al-Sisi, risking further destabilizing the country,”(Humeyra Pamuk). Sisi denies having political prisoners in Egypt, yet Egypt and the United States are allied. The alliance proceeded with the Egypt-Israel peace treaty in 1979, of which the United States facilitated the agreement where it occurred on American soil.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The peace deal between Egypt and Israel was predominantly regarding the Suez Canal. The treaty recognizes borders, sovereignty, and free passage of the Suez Canal. Historically the Suez Canal has always been a major shipping lane connecting trade between Asia and Europe. The United States benefits by allying with such countries surrounding the Suez; the United States has military ships in the Suez Canal, which could allow for a military presence near competing countries. The United States military aid allows for regional and economic stability in Egypt. Stability in Egypt was never a constant, since during imperialism it was colonized. If Egypt were to weaken, the Suez Canal could very well be at stake. Human rights in Egypt will subside as a priority of the United States. Egypt will have the upper hand in the two countries’ affairs, such as continuing to receive military aid despite human rights issues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There is no exact number of political detainees held in Egypt. For progress to be made in human rights in Egypt, NGOs need to get involved, both operational and advocacy. These non-governmental organizations are unbiased in political affairs, allowing for complete focus on, in this case, human rights and not political affairs. Human rights issues occur in Egypt, yet Egypt controls many factors of the Suez Canal, allowing its control over aspects of the region. As a sovereign state, it would be out of the United States to control what the government chooses to do regarding human rights. Egypt will continue to get aid from the United States and will continue to hold these political prisoners. Stability and usage of the Suez Canal will remain a priority over the human rights issues occurring in Egypt. Unless the use of NGOs is employed, human rights issues in Egypt remain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Work Cited<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Pamuk, Humeyra. \u201cUS allows much of Egypt military aid despite human rights concerns.\u201d Reuters<\/em>, 14 September 2023, https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/world\/us-allows-much-egypt-military-aid-despite-human-rights-concerns-2023-09-14\/. Accessed 18 September 2023.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" To preserve national security, the United States allowed $235 million in military aid to go to Egypt; the decision completely disregarded lawmakers in Washington concerns about human rights. $85 million of the military aid was withheld, which is a mere fraction (6%) of the $1.3 billion allocated for Egypt. The sum will be withheld until progress is made on the… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":258,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5706","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/middleeastandnorthafricablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5706","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/middleeastandnorthafricablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/middleeastandnorthafricablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/middleeastandnorthafricablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/258"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/middleeastandnorthafricablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5706"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/middleeastandnorthafricablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5706\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5707,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/middleeastandnorthafricablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5706\/revisions\/5707"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/middleeastandnorthafricablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5706"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/middleeastandnorthafricablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5706"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/middleeastandnorthafricablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5706"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}