Egypt proudly hosts 6 million migrants, refugees: Foreign ministry

Ahram Online , Saturday 18 Dec 2021

Egypt proudly hosts 6 million migrants and refugees and is keen to provide them with a decent life in equity to its own citizens, according to a statement by the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Saturday on the occasion of International Migrants Day.

Foreign Ministry

 

“Egypt has always considered migration as a positive phenomenon and an important means to achieve development in origin and destination countries, and it [migration] contributes to the convergence of civilizations and cultures, which leads to the strengthening of tolerance and the spread of a culture of peace and understanding and acceptance of the other,” the statement added.

In October, Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi said at the Visegrad Group (V4) summit in Hungary that he does not allow his country to be a transit point for irregular migrants seeking to reach Europe.

El-Sisi stressed that Egypt had no camps for those refugees, but it, from a human rights-based approach, treats them as guests on its soil, allowing them at the same time to join its schools and universities as well as being covered in its coronavirus vaccination campaign.

According to the UN Refugees Agency (UNHCR), Egypt hosts officially more than 265,000 refugees from 65 countries, above them Syria followed by Sudan, Ethiopia, South Sudan, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Yemen, and Somalia.

According to other sources including official statements, Egypt has hosted not less than 500,000 Syrians alone since the start of the crisis in Syria.

The International Organization for Migration “IOM” states that there are around 3 million migrants in Egypt.

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