Sisi approves Egyptian-Canadian refugee services program

CAIRO – 24 September 2017: President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi issued decree No. 94 of 2017, approving the sub-agreement between the governments of Egypt and Canada to implement a program to meet the urgent educational needs of refugees in Egypt. The decree was signed in Cairo on December 28, 2016, according to the Official Gazette in its Sunday edition.

Sisi also issued decree No. 96 of 2017, approving the sub-agreement between the two countries on the implementation of the school feeding project for refugees in Egypt, which was signed in Cairo on December 28, 2016.

At the G20 meeting in September 2016, Sisi highlighted the importance of the role of the international community in regards to Arab and African refugees, saying that Egypt currently hosts around five million refugees from Arab and African countries.

Spokesman Alaa Youssef said that the president told the delegation that refugees in Egypt are receiving the same health and educational services as Egyptians, despite the economic burden the Egyptian government carries.

According to the UNHCR website profile on Egypt, the country hosts 261,741 registered refugees, mostly from Sudan, Syria and Libya.

The number of unregistered refugees in Egypt is believed to be much higher than the official registered numbers.