Egypt’s foreign minister Badr Abdelatty has said that Egypt has made “strenuous efforts” to tackle migration and asked for more support from European nations.
Reports indicate that Abdelatty, made the urgent call to the Europeans for help during the second ministerial meeting of the EU-Horn of Africa Migration Route Initiative, also called Khartoum Process.
According to Abdelatty, “no migrant boats” have left the Egyptian coast since 2016, when Egypt implemented its national migration strategy.
“We need the support of course to host communities, especially for basic services including healthcare, including education. Number three, we need more investment in order to create jobs. We have, as I mentioned, 10 million refugees living here and they have access to our labor market, they need more jobs,” Abdelatty said.
“Otherwise, they would like to risk their lives and come into Europe via illegal migration through the Mediterranean. So, we have to do more to invest and to encourage for more public and private investment from European countries,” he added.
Reports indicate that the illegal move is highly motivated by the desperate desire for a place that will provide better living conditions by migrants following the suspension of funds from the USAID. USAID, has left a hole in humanitarian aid funds for countries along the main migration route from the Horn of Africa to Europe. These include Sudan and South Sudan, Libya, Tunisia, Egypt, Ethiopia and Somalia, among others.