Egypt approves draft law to prevent illegal migration
Egypt's President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi is pictured in Cairo, Nov. 19, 2015. Egypt's cabinet approved a draft law on Wednesday to combat illegal migration, particularly for those smuggling illegal immigrants out of the country. Reuters/Amr Abdallah Dalsh
(VOvworld) - The Egyptian government approved Wednesday a draft law aimed at cracking down on illegal migration and imposing harsh fines and sentences to those caught smuggling people out of the country illegally. The new law would impose fines of between roughly 6,000 and 200,000 USD or a prison sentence to anyone who smuggles, attempts to smuggle or mediates in the smuggling process of migrants. Another of the law’s articles imposes hard labor sentences and fines between about 25,000 and 63,000 USD for anyone convicted of starting, managing, holding a position in or being a member of an organized group that smuggles migrants out of the country illegally. A life sentence is reserved to smugglers who aim to execute a terrorist attack by smuggling illegal immigrants, or if the smuggling caused the death of an illegal immigrant or resulted in a disability, or if women and children were among the immigrants, or if fake documentations were used to create new identities for the immigrants.
The law would go into effect after ratification by President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi, who currently holds legislative powers in the absence of a parliament, or it will be discussed first by the new parliament, which is expected to hold its first sessions before the end of this year.