Just before the Eid Al-Adha holiday, Al-Sisi met with the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell. He later took part in the “New Global Financing Pact” initiative launched by French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris, where illegal immigration was a key topic in the meetings the president had with EU leaders.
This was only to be expected following the recent, tragic sinking of a fishing boat carrying 750 illegal migrants off the Greek coast. The boat was travelling from the coastal city of Tobruk in Libya to Italy, carrying mainly Pakistani, Egyptian, Syrian, and Palestinian nationals.
While Egypt has been cooperating with the Greek authorities to determine the fate of all Egyptians who were on board the ill-fated boat, it still awaits the results of a thorough investigation on how this tragic incident came about, and whether all efforts were made to attempt to save the passengers.
The victims included dozens of women and children, along with mostly young people looking for a better economic future following an unprecedented global economic crisis that has caused resulted in greater suffering, not only in low-income nations in Africa and the Middle East, but also in middle-income and developing nations that were believed to be on the right track in improving the living conditions of their peoples.
Hardly months after coping with the worldwide economic standstill following the spread of Covid-19, conflicts in different parts of the world, the war in Ukraine, and pressing global economic problems caused an unprecedented rise in irregular border crossings, the highest recorded by Frontex, the European Border and Coast Guard, since 2017.
During his meetings with EU officials, President Al-Sisi underlined his commitment to enhancing dialogue and cooperation on countering illegal migration and terrorism. He also agreed with Borrell on the need for “a sustainable, humane, and safe system of migration,” while pointing to the problem as a global issue that cannot be addressed by just one country or region.
However, the “safe system of migration” aspired to cannot be a technical one, or depend solely on policing efforts by countries in the region overlooking the Mediterranean Sea. Countries like Egypt and Tunisia have already been taking action against the smugglers and traffickers who put people’s lives in danger. Yet such measures alone will not be enough to contain the growing phenomenon.
The sinking of the boat off the Greek coast, and the death of its passengers, was only a reminder of the nearly daily suffering of hundreds of people from poor and developing nations, mainly because of the massive number of victims. The sad reality is that people die every day in smaller boats while trying to reach their destinations in Europe.
But even if Egyptian migrants manage to reach their destination – Italy in most cases – the government there would repatriate them under an agreement between Italy and Egypt. Under Italian law, the Italian authorities are not allowed to repatriate minors, meaning individuals under the age of 18. In previous discussions with the Italian authorities, Egyptian officials explained that this law encourages minors to migrate because they know that they will not be repatriated. However, the Italian authorities had not reconsidered it, citing laws designed to protect children.
The recent sinking should prompt the EU to appreciate the efforts Egypt is exerting in combating illegal migration and consider providing Egypt with more support to help with the cost of hosting refugees. Providing more opportunities for legal migration to Europe could also reduce illegal migration.
In Egypt’s case, some 250,000 Sudanese refugees have been forced to move to Egypt following the recent fighting. Another five million Sudanese refugees are already settled in the country. While the EU had declared that it would provide immediate assistance of 20 million euros to help Cairo address this new wave of Sudanese refugees, along with another 80 million euros to combat migration across the Mediterranean, even Borrell admitted that those amounts would not be enough to handle this extremely complicated problem.
What is needed for a lasting solution to illegal migration is for Europe, the United States and other wealthy nations to fulfil their pledges in providing economic assistance and debt relief for low-income and developing nations. The development partners of Africa and the Middle East should show understanding of the economic pressures those countries suffer as they pursue development plans and try to manage a growing debt burden.
In his speech at the Paris Summit, Al-Sisi called for reforming the global financial infrastructure to promote sustainable development financing, including re-allocation of the International Monetary Fund’s special drawing rights and suspending or cancelling the fund’s additional fees in times of crisis. He also appealed for more debt swaps, saying the Paris summit highlighted the importance of taking quick international decisions that prevent the outbreak of a major debt crisis. As rightly stated by the Egyptian president, the key challenge is that developed and wealthy nations make many promises, but only keep very few, leaving the door wide open to more waves of illegal migrants who see little hope in staying in their own countries under tough economic conditions.
* A version of this article appears in print in the 6 July, 2023 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly
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