Assistant ambassador Ehab Fawzy met Executive Director of European Border and Coast Guard Agency (FRONTEX) Fabrice Leggeri in Cairo on Wednesday morning, to discuss the latest developments in immigration and asylum in the region, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry reported.

According to the ministry’s official statement, ambassador Fawzy and Leggeri discussed Egypt's stance on refugee and legal immigration issues, as well as talking about methods to target the reasons for illegal immigration.

Fabrice Leggeri praised the efforts made by Egypt over the past two years to stop the flow of illegal immigration coming into Europe from Egyptian coasts.

He highlighted the contribution of Egypt’s border guards, at the same time expressing his wish to benefit from this area of Egypt’s expertise.

The statement quoted ambassador Fawzy, who said that efforts to prevent illegal immigration have been a huge burden to the Egyptian state and that Egypt was looking forward to the international community and its partners sharing in these burdens and responsibilities as well as supporting Egypt to host an increasing number of refugees and immigrants.

Fawzy added that his meeting with Fabrice Leggeri came as part of ongoing cooperation and dialogue between Egypt and the European Union regarding immigration issues, begun in December 2017.

Leggeri continues his visit to Cairo accompanied by high-level officials from FRONTEX.