(AFP File Photo)
Nearly 100 Egyptian citizens have entered other countries illegally over the last week.
A number of statements from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs have reported incidents of Egyptians being deported or detained for entering a country illegally.
On Tuesday state-run news agency MENA reported that 78 Egyptians had been deported from Libya on Monday.
The ministry reported on Monday as well that 11 Egyptian citizens were detained attempting to enter Yemen from Saudi Arabia. The Egyptian embassy in Yemen intervened and was able to secure citizen’s return to Egypt.
It was also reported on Saturday that six Egyptians had been arrested in Angola for living in the country illegally. The Egyptian embassy in Angola intervened to stop their deportation.
The Egyptian Foreign Ministry has been dealing with similar incidents like this in the last few months.
Libya has so far performed the biggest crackdown on illegal immigrants having detained and deported hundreds of Egyptians for not having visas and in some cases passports. In January, Libya deported 170 Egyptians and 256 more in March.
Libyan and Egyptian armed forces signed a cooperation agreement last week in order to tackle border security issues, one of which is illegal immigration. Libya-Egypt relations were strained in March as Egyptian Copts living in Libya were the targets of violent attacks. Many Egyptians were arrested and one man died, with his family claiming that he was tortured while detained by Libyan authorities.
In July 2012 a tripartite meeting between the Egyptian, Libyan and Tunisian foreign ministers announced the Cairo Declaration, which included plans for talks to establish a Free Movement Zone between the three countries.
Egyptian workers in Jordan have also faced difficulties due to their illegal status. Jordan had threatened to deport hundreds of Egyptian workers but at the beginning of January an agreement was reached between Egypt and Jordan to allow Egyptians working there illegally to apply for work permits over a period of 60 days.
Due to increased rate in unemployment over the last few years, many Egyptians travel to neighbouring countries looking for work, often resulting in issues with work permits and visas.
