The sinking of a boat containing up to 90 illegal immigrants off the coast of Turkey once again highlights the dangers some Egyptians are willing to face in search of a better life, writes Doaa El-Bey While hopes of finding anyone else alive fade the gruesome process of identifying bodies swollen by seawater continues. Of the 50 bodies lifted from the sea so far more than half are thought to be Egyptians, with the remainder reported to be Syrian, Iraqi, Palestinian and Somali. Only six passengers survived, two of them Egyptian. They will be deported to Egypt as soon as the Turkish authorities conclude their investigations into the sinking of a vessel that is thought to have contained up to 90 passengers though it was capable of carrying 15 at most. Ahmed El-Quweisni, head of the Foreign Ministry's Department for Consulates and Egyptian Expatriates, has called on the relatives of any Egyptians on board to send official IDs of their missing relatives to the ministry to aid the process of identification. "Identifying the bodies is essential for issuing the documents needed to ship them to their families in Egypt," departmental spokesperson Rania Mohamed told Al-Ahram Weekly. The 15-metre boat sank 10 December in the Aegean Sea, close to the Turkish town of Izmir, a major gathering point for Africans and Asians seeking to enter Europe illegally. Turkey, unlike Italy, the scene of similar tragedies, has no bilateral repatriation agreement with Egypt and arrangements for returning the bodies to their families involve a coordinated effort on the part of the Turkish authorities and the Egyptian Embassy in Ankara. The Foreign Ministry, though quick to set up an operations room to deal with the crisis, has been accused by some of failing to respond with the necessary speed and resources. Mohamed denies such charges, insisting both the Egyptian Embassy in Turkey and the Foreign Ministry responded with efficiency, and are closely cooperating with Turkish officials. "Resources may be stretched but what really matters in times of crisis is the right kind of management," she says. The sinking of the boat once again highlights the dangers faced by economic migrants seeking to enter Europe illegally. Following the last such tragedy off the coast of Italy the Foreign Ministry launched an awareness campaign in an attempt to alert potential illegal migrants of the dangers they face. Leaflets were distributed and advertisements taken out in newspapers and on television. "We even convened symposia about the dangers of illegal migration, the first in Qalioubiya last month and the other two in Sharqiya and Menoufiya this month," Mohamed points out. The three governorates have furnished a majority of Egyptians attempting to enter Europe illegally. Raising awareness is one thing, solving the root causes of the problem another. Few would argue that it is poverty, and the lack of opportunities, that drives so many young people to take such appalling risks in an attempt to realise the dream of a better life elsewhere. And traffickers are all willing to take advantage of their desperation. Some of the passengers in the Turkish boat are thought to have paid up to LE30,000 for their fatal voyage on the flimsy, overcrowded vessel. Northern Mediterranean countries have repeatedly called for greater international cooperation in tackling the problems that arise from human traffic. Turkey alone has detained more than 54,000 illegal immigrants in 2007. Rome is currently debating legislation that would allow for the forced repatriation of immigrants arriving illegally in Europe. Such laws, though, will require the agreement of all the concerned European states as well as the negotiation of repatriation and cooperation agreements between the migrants' countries of origin and Europe as a whole. Spain recently submitted a plan to the EU- Africa summit in an attempt to combat the phenomenon, a three-point programme that attempts to address the root causes of economic migration by stressing the importance of developing education systems, employment opportunities for young people and energising the social and economic fabric of countries south of the Mediterranean. Indeed, during the EU Africa summit held in the Portuguese capital Lisbon earlier this month, migration was given special attention, with leaders from both continents pledging to address the root causes of migration and refugee flows and promote ethical recruitment policies in Europe. Both sides also committed themselves to helping African migrants integrate more fully in their new countries of residence. The summit failed, however, to specify any concrete steps capable of combating the problem, let alone a timetable.
