CAIRO: Egypt's Minister of State for Family and Population Moshira Khattab said that the repressive police method used will “no longer pay to prevent or reduce illegal immigration” by Egyptians out of the country, in what is being viewed as a change in policy by the Egyptian government. She added that nearly 41 percent of all Egyptians who illegally emigrate from the country are minors. “The development of villages would be a helpful factor to fight against illegal immigration by creating alternatives to this type of migration,” the minister said. She argued that by bolstering local initiatives, Egyptian youth would see and have opportunities to be successful in their own country. She explained during a meeting with an Italian delegation earlier this month that the “Project of the Awareness of Egyptian youth on Safe Migration Alternatives” that the proportion of illegal migrants, “especially of minors who migrate without their parents illegally, has been exacerbated recently and reached alarming proportions, despite the fact that Egypt was not a country of illegal immigration in the past.” She added that “according to estimates by the Italian government, the phenomenon of illegal migration of Egyptian minors without their parents to Italy recorded extremely worrying figures, as minors aged between 15 and 18 years-old, was some 41 percent out of 2,281 illegal immigrants arrived in Italy in 2008.” The minister added that the damage that illegal immigration causes to Egypt is the same amount of damage to the Italian side, “especially for children, so the best way is cooperation with Italy, because the damage is one and the interest is common,” referring to the signing of a protocol with the ministries of Labor and Social Policies and Health to implement an information campaign designed to educate young Egyptians on safe immigration and alternatives, “in addition to the negotiations with Italy on the development of villages and the establishment of common schools in Egypt.” Khattab said that Egypt now has villages that export illegal immigration led by villages in Fayoum and “even if the immigrant has not been killed in the sea will befall crime.” BM
