The cooperation protocol with Saudi Arabia signed by the Minister of Manpower Aisha Abdel Hadi and the Saudi Arabian Council of Chambers of Commerce and Industry, allowing 120 thousand Egyptian women to work in Saudi Arabia as hairdressers and housemaids for salaries less than 800 Saudi Riyals- half the pay of Philipino and Srilankan women for the same kind of work raised a lot of debate and anger among Egyptians.
The main reason of this anger was not the low salaries of Egyptian workers, but the very idea of sending Egyptian maids to work in Saudi Arabia. Many commentators regard this agreement as an insult. The minister stressed that the protocol is “merely a plan to settle conditions for Egyptian labor in the Arab Region .
The angry, yet healthy discourse should open up a discussion about a national migration policy. With about five million Egyptian migrants abroad, migration should be in the heart of the political and public agenda. The sole migration law No. 111/1983 was issued to lift barriers on migration without considering real plans to set a comprehensive “migration policy rather than simply removing impediments on migration to decrease pressure on the local labor market.
Migrants with a variety of skills and qualifications should be regarded as an important national resource. They contribute to the development of Egypt by remitting part of their income to their families in Egypt, bring down the level of unemployment, and above all represent Egypt in the international arena.
Without international funds and technical assistance, especially Italy and the International Organization for Migration, Egyptian institutions working on migration may not be able to effectively respond to current and future challenges in the field of migration. National institutions are dependent on international and bilateral funds and projects which are actually insufficient. Other than announcing a flexible migration policy that encourages Egyptians to migrate, no practical steps were taken towards founding migration-related training and rehabilitation of the surplus local labor force. It is not clear if this is due to the lack of political will or due to lack of priorities.
Migration destinations of Egyptians should be prioritized, especially migration to Europe. Egypt can be regarded as a reserve of skilled and semi-skilled workers for Europe. Economic imbalances in the international economy, globalization, and free trade agreements stimulate migration streams; legal and illegal. Given the economic imbalance between Europe and Egypt, migration streams will continue in the foreseeable future. The volume of illegal migration is a reaction to restricting legal migration. Economic aid as a means of reducing the volume of legal and illegal migration is not sufficient. European governments and institutions should reinforce, activate, and develop mechanisms to help the Egyptian government establish “migration-oriented industry, through which the European Union helps Egypt in training potential migrants to fit into the European labor market. The Italian cooperation with Egypt and increasing the quota for Egyptian migrants to Italy, in addition to providing technical support to the Emigration Sector of the Ministry of Manpower and Emigration in managing migration should be regarded as a replicable model for other countries in Europe.
Finally, given the complexity of issues related to migration and the dispersion of responsibilities between ministries of Manpower and Emigration, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Interior, and many other governmental organizations, a National Migration Council should be founded under the auspices of President Mubarak to formulate a national policy and monitor its implementation and to ensure a minimum level of cooperation between entities working in this field.
Dr. Ayman Zohry is an Egyptian expert on Migration Studies. You can email him at [email protected]
