Combating illegal migration
The fund is meant to protect the most vulnerable groups, especially youth, from the exploitation of smugglers, train young potential migrants for new jobs, integrate and support unaccompanied children and help foreign migrants return safely to their country, Naela Gabr, the chairperson of NCCPIM, said this week during the opening ceremony of an art exhibition organised by the committee.
The fund, Gabr explained, helped to complete a legal framework for combating illegal migration.
The framework started with the issuance of Law 82/2016, the first in the Middle East that defines the crime of smuggling migrants and highlights the sanctions accordingly.
The fund will also help in raising awareness about the dangers of illegal immigration, one of the most important goals of NCCPIM.
With that in mind, the committee organised this week an art exhibition featuring paintings drawn by students from preparatory and secondary schools. In the paintings, children capture the dangers of illegal migration.
The exhibition was held for three days at the Cairo Opera House.
The paintings were drawn in the framework of artistic competitions organised by NCCPIM for three consecutive years on the dangers of illegal immigration and the alternatives available.
The competitions were held in collaboration with the Ministry of Education, the International Organisation for Migration, the EU and the government of Italy.
Some 720 students from 12 governorates participated in this year’s competition.
Seminars and discussions were arranged in the participating schools during the competition, regarded by NCCPIM as another way to raise awareness in schools and subsequently in their communities of the dangers of illegal migration.
* A version of this article appears in print in the 14 September, 2023 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly
Short link: