Egypt: Borders

Mr. Amess
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what reports he has received since July 2009 on the number of tunnels between Egypt and Gaza; what further steps he is taking to assist the government of Egypt to prevent the flow of weapons through the Rafah border crossing into Gaza; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Ivan Lewis
There have been a series of meetings of key partners in Copenhagen (February 2009), London (March 2009) and Ottawa (June 2009) to discuss potential counter-smuggling efforts. But given the Egyptian sensitivities to have been seen accepting assistance and the challenges of “upstream” interdiction, these have remained largely discussions and no further discussions are planned.