Sisi promises more jobs to deter perilous migration to Europe

President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on Monday pledged more jobs for Egyptians to help dissuade them from making dangerous voyages to Europe after more than 160 migrants died when a boat capsized off the country’s Mediterranean coast. Rescue workers and fisherman recovered five more bodies on Sunday, taking the death toll in the Sept. 21 shipwreck […]

President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on Monday pledged more jobs for Egyptians to help dissuade them from making dangerous voyages to Europe after more than 160 migrants died when a boat capsized off the country’s Mediterranean coast.
Rescue workers and fisherman recovered five more bodies on Sunday, taking the death toll in the Sept. 21 shipwreck to 169, with another 169 migrants having been rescued. Security sources and the state MENA news agency initially said up to 600 people may have been abroad the boat, suggesting hundreds more may be lost at sea. But some survivors have estimated the number of people on the vessel at closer to 400.
Survivors and their families said poverty and a lack of jobs and opportunity along with political repression in Egypt have driven thousands to embark on perilous journeys in rickety boats across the Mediterranean to Europe.