Brussels: Europe and the Arabs
Dr. Badr Abdel Aty, Egyptian Ambassador to Brussels, participated in the international conference on the Global Alliance to Combat Migrant Smuggling, which was organized by the European Commission to discuss ways to enhance international cooperation in the field of combating migrant smuggling, with the participation of European Commission President Vondelin and Migration Commissioner Johansen, as well as interior ministers. Representatives from more than 55 countries from Europe, Africa, Asia and Latin America.
The meeting focused on ways to prevent migrant smuggling and address migrant smuggling, in addition to alternatives to illegal immigration as a basic deterrent tool for migrant smuggling operations.
For his part, Ambassador Abdel Aty explained in his speech that Egypt adopts a comprehensive approach to dealing with immigration issues, not limited to the security dimensions, but rather including the developmental, economic and social dimensions to address the root causes leading to illegal immigration, highlighting the success of the Egyptian experience in combating illegal immigration. There have been no illegal immigration boats that have left the Egyptian coast since September 2016.
Abdel-Ati expressed the necessity of joint action to increase legal immigration from Egypt to the European Union by launching technical and vocational training and education programs to qualify Egyptian workers for the European labor market and give them regulated job opportunities, which contributes to reducing the number of illegal immigrants to European Union countries. He also shed light on Egypt hosting 9 million refugees, who enjoy basic services like Egyptian citizens, in addition to receiving hundreds of thousands of Sudanese since the outbreak of the recent crisis, and the economic burdens this represents.
He also stressed Egypt's categorical rejection of the forced displacement of the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip, inside or outside its territory, as it is a red line that we will not allow.
On the other hand, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, pointed out the need to strengthen cooperation between countries of origin, destination and transit in combating migrant smuggling networks, and expressed the European Union’s aspiration to establish more partnerships at the bilateral level to provide job opportunities and facilitate circular migration in a way that bridges the gap. in the European labor market. In her speech, European Commissioner for Migration and Home Affairs, Ylva Johansson, praised the good cooperation existing with Egypt as an important partner of the European Union, and the importance of continuing to support bilateral cooperation in the field of migration.