Forty-four illegal Egyptian immigrants deported by Italian authorities arrived in the Cairo airport on Sunday. They were arrested last week on board a boat that sailed from Rashid, a port city on the Mediterranean Sea.
Airport sources told MENA that the deportees arrived from Italy’s Bari airport accompanied by 47 security personnel. They were all questioned upon arrival. Police reports were filed against them in Italy for illegally exiting Egypt.
Sources said that investigations proved that smugglers promised to sneak the immigrants into Italy for the price of LE30,000-LE 45,000. The boat sailed from Rashid with 77 Egyptians on board. All were arrested a week later off the coast of Italy. Italian authorities held those below the age of 18 and deported the rest, in addition to another seven other illegal immigrants who had been arrested prior to this incident.
Illegal immigration by sea is common in Egypt, with many boats leaving from Rashid. Egyptian migrants used to reach Italy by departing from Libya, but in the mid-2000s, Libya began cracking down on migrants as part of its collaboration with the European Union to curb illegal immigration.
Translated from Al-Masry Al-Youm
