EU discusses with Egypt means to combat illegal migration

CAIRO - 26 June 2019: Egypt's Minister of Interior Mahmoud Tawfik expressed his ministry's keenness to cooperate with the European Union by opening communication channels and exchanging security information to combat terrorism, organized crimes, and illegal migration.

This came during a meeting between the Egyptian interior minister and EU Commissioner for Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship DimitrisAvramopoulos on Wednesday.

Avramopoulos affirmed keenness to raise the coordination level with the Egyptian Interior Ministry, highlighting the importance of consolidating regional efforts to combat the phenomenon of illegal immigration, especially in light of the flow of many illegal migrants from some countries in the region to the European coasts, probably including extremists.

He also affirmed the presence of a relationship between the terrorist activities, organized crime, and illegal immigration.

For his part, Tawfik reviewed with Avramopoulos the Egyptian ministry's efforts tocombat organized crimes and putan end to illegal immigration through targeting those in charge of this activity on Egypt's border governorates.



Avramopoulos also met with Egypt's President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, where the former affirmed that Egypt plays a main role in establishing stability in the region. It is a shared interest to deepen our cooperation which will benefit the whole region, the statement added.

Earlier, Avramopoulos also met with Foreign Minister SamehShoukryat the Foreign Ministry headquarters. The discussion between the two sides focused on cooperation in migration and security files as well as the enhancement of joint cooperation to take meaningful measures to address the problem of illegal migration.