The Parliament on Wednesday approved in principle a draft bill presented by the government to combat illegal immigration, Youm7 reported.
The vote came in the parliament’s inaugural session during which parliament members voted on the 34-article bill.
The bill includes an article that imposes up to 5-year imprisonment and a fine, ranging from 50,000 EGP (about $6,000) to 200,000 EGP for human trafficking activities.
On late September, a migrant boat named ‘Mawkeb al Rasol’, drowned about 12 nautical miles northeast of Beheira’s city of Rosetta with over 600 illegal migrants on board.
More than 200 people from countries, including Sudan, Eritrea and Somali have been rescued by the Egyptian authorities over the past two days. On Friday, the Egyptian authorities announced it had pulled out a total of 162 bodies from the drowning site so far.
