In a press conference held by the Egyptian diplomatic mission in New York, Egypt’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Sameh Shoukry said that the Arab European summit has discussed areas of common interest such as confronting terrorism and resolving disputes, also human and arms trafficking. Mr Shoukry said that the EU and the Arab World shared common ground regarding the Palestinian issue and illegal migration.
The Foreign Minister said that Egypt currently hosts some 5 million refugees of various nationalities, to whom it offers health, educational, and nutritional services. Such services, he said, represent a huge burden on the country’s budget. Egypt cannot be accused of any shortcoming on that account, he said.
Mr Shoukry confirmed that Egypt was working closely with Europe to resolve the issue of illegal migration. He said that not a single boat carrying illegal migrants had left Egyptian shores since September 2016. He insisted, however, that the naval monitoring and control involved was very costly. He also pointed out that restricting illegal migration required ameliorating economic conditions in African countries.
Mr Shukry’s talk came within the activity of the Egyptian mission during the 73rd session of the UN general assembly currently held in New York.
Watani International
23 September 2018