Egypt has foiled a total of 110 illegal immigration attempts in 2016, Interior Minister Magdy Abdel Ghaffar said on Saturday.
The remarks came during a ministerial meeting headed by Prime Minister Sherif Ismail on Saturday in light of the migrant boat capsized off Egypt’s Mediterranean coast on Wednesday with 600 people on board.
A total of 5,195 people of various nationalities were arrested over illegal immigration attempts during the past 9 months, the minister added.
During the meeting, Ismail said the illegal immigration became an “organized crime” that has to be addressed through coordination among domestic and international concerned bodies
The Egyptian government has proposed a draft bill to amend a law on the illegal immigration-related crimes, Ismail told reporters on Saturday.
The amendments aim to “toughen penalties and introduce deterrent penalties for those involved in any activities related to illegal immigration,” he added.
