Ambassador Mohamed Abdel Hakam, assistant foreign minister for consular affairs, immigration, Egyptian expatriates and refugees, announced that Italian authorities had arrested on Thursday afternoon 135 Egyptians on board a boat that was trying to land along Italy's southeastern coast. Among those arrested were 41 minors. Abdel Hakam also said 33 of the illegal Egyptian immigrants had escaped from detention centers in Italy. Contacts made by the Egyptian Foreign Ministry and the Egyptian Embassy in Rome resulted in the approval of the deportation of 52 detainees without trial. Italian authorities are interrogating two of the illegal immigrants believed to have organized the trip. Abdel Hakam warned Egyptian citizens of the disastrous consequences of such attempts, which result in the loss of money and exposure to the legal penalties in European countries, including fines, imprisonment and deportation. He explained that the laws of European countries criminalize illegal immigration and punish those who help, harbor or employ illegal immigrants. An Italian official said that 110 illegal Egyptian immigrants will be deported to Egypt from the airport of the city of Bari, in southern Italy, on a private EgyptAir plane. EgyptAir officials in Rome said that 36 Egyptians were deported from Italy Wednesday, and 24 were deported Tuesday, bringing the number this week to 170, which they said was "the largest number that has been deported from Italy during this year." Translated from the Arabic Edition
