‘State working hard to address illegal immigration’

Minister of Immigration and Expatriates Affairs Nabila Makram on Friday highlighted the progress Egypt made in the fight against illegal immigration.

Makram told a symposium at the College of Economics and Political Science of Cairo University about state’s efforts to stop the illegal movement of Egyptians and the reasons behind the persistence of this phenomenon.

The government has adopted a comprehensive strategy to put an end to illegal immigration which solved this problem as of 2016, Makram said.

Makram quoted President Abdel Fattah El Sisi as saying that the Egyptian coast has ceased to function as a jumping-off point for vessels used for illegal immigration to Europe since 2016.

Referring to the launch in 2019 of the ‘Lifeboats’ initiative by President Sisi, Makram said that it was intended to raise awareness about the dangers of illegal immigration.

“The Ministry of Immigration implemented the initiative in villages where most illegal migrants came from,” she said, adding that emigrants came from 70 villages in 14 governorates.

The presidential rural development initiative ‘Decent Life’ will help dissuade would-be illegal emigrants by improving the quality of life in the villages, she said.

The initiative will rehabilitate and train young people in these villages in accordance with the needs of foreign labour markets, Makram added.

“We do this through intensive training programmes in co-operation with a number of concerned authorities,” the minister said, adding that Egypt considers illegal emigrants as ‘victims’.

“However, we regards traffickers and brokers as real culprits,” the minister said.

She referred to the toughening of penalties in the 2016 law.

The minister of immigration noted that state authorities will assist those caught in the act of trying to emigrate illegally by making them aware of the risks.

She added that state authorities also try to help these people find jobs in all sectors of the Egyptian economy.

“We provide them with training so that they can have employment opportunities at home, or suit the needs of the labour market abroad,” she said.