Illegal Egyptian immigrant narrates his “death trip” to Italy

CAIRO – 4 June 2018: Escaping harsh living conditions and seeking to improve their living standards, many Egyptian youth took illegal migration boats to Europe, most notably to France and Italy, unbeknown to them the mysterious fate that awaits them in the darkness across the Mediterranean Sea.

About 13 years ago, Mohamed Gomaa, who is currently a janitor in Milano, was one of those who decided to take the "death journey" seeking to raise his living standards after his graduation from Industrial Secondary Schools.

"Once I graduated from secondary school, I started to think of travelling to Italy, though I know that my chance of surviving in the sea trip was practically zero. I also had to raise a large amount of money, LE 25,000 to give to the Libyan immigration broker," 33-year-old Gomaa told Egypt Today. Long story short, Gomaa risked his money and life.

“The 10-meter wide boat carried more than 250 illegal Egyptian immigrants, and the Libyan broker took our passports. Two full days in the darkness of the sea with no passport, no food and also no life jackets, knowing nothing about where will we end up," Gomaa continued with sad and fearful expressions on his face.

"Forgive me. ‘You will die at last,’ the immigration broker told us at the beginning of the trip. Even if we are rescued from the sea, we will not be rescued from the Italian police officers and, at last, we will lose everything," Gomaa said.

The Egyptian man said that the boat landed on the shore at night and as he expected, he found the Italian police officers. He escaped in a farm near the shore, and he had to hide between trees for more than ten hours until the police officers left. In the end, he met a Moroccan man who helped him find his job in Italy.

"Since then, I knew nothing of the other Egyptians who were with me in the boat, and even their families didn't know anything about them," he ended.

Egyptian Minister of Local Development Abu Bakr el-Gendi said February that "no illegal migration boats were recorded to have set off from Egyptian shores since 2016."

During the 9th Euro-Mediterranean Association session, Gendi contended that the Egyptian government has adopted a comprehensive strategy to combat the phenomenon of illegal immigration on the legal, military and cultural fronts.

Gendi pointed out the necessity of supporting the countries that are considered exporters of migrants by providing their youth with decent job opportunities to encourage them to stay in their homelands rather than to seek employment overseas.

Offering another effective method for confronting illegal terrorism, the Minister of Local Development suggested that countries open their doors for youth that are seeking quality education. He also praised the efforts of the Euro-Mediterranean regional and local communities in disseminating the culture of expertise exchange, strengthening economic activities in the region, and promoting political dialog and the practise of democracy.

The Egyptian Parliament approved in October the Illegal Immigration and Smuggling Law, which entails tough penalties on whomever assists and/or facilitates a process of illegal immigration. The law was drafted by the Cabinet in 2015 and was sent in June 2016 to the Parliament for discussion.

Parliament's efforts to approve the law came following the boat that capsized off the coast of Rashid in Beheira governorate while heading to Europe, killing dozens of people.