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Egypt And Italy To Sign Security Deal
ROME, Jan. 1 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) – Egypt and Italy have agreed on the major points of a security agreement aiming at organizing the travel of Egyptian laborers to Italy.
The agreement falls within the context of an Italian plan to repatriate illegal immigrants, as well as combat so-called “terrorist activists,” news agencies reported Tuesday January 1, 2002.
In a report broadcast Tuesday morning, BBC Radio reported that Italian Interior Minister, Claudio Scallio, has met with his Egyptian counterpart, Habib el-Adly, on Sunday, December 30, 2001, and that they “touched upon Egyptian-Italian measures to stop terrorism.”
The report added that Italy intends to repatriate illegal immigrants on its soil by tightening security measures on its Mediterranean coasts used by workers from Egypt, Tunis and Morocco to enter Italy without legal visas.
Italy has allocated a certain annual quota for Egyptian workers willing to head to Italy, according to the needs of Italian labor market, BBC radio reported.
The Italian Foreign Ministry has issued a statement saying experts from Egypt and Italy are to meet soon to finalize the wording of the agreement’s articles before signing it.
The statement added that signing the agreement with Egypt is very important because “it will give Italy the chance to complete similar agreements with other North African states in that concern,” reported the London-based Arab daily newspaper, al-Hayat, Tuesday.
Scallio stressed full support and cooperation with al-Adly in the struggle against so-called “terrorism,” highlighting the efforts of Italian police in confronting “terrorist” activists, according to the paper.
In 2001, Italy has repatriated some 361 Egyptian laborers for not having residency permission.
Thousands of illegal immigrants and refugees – Kurds, Albanians, Arabs, and Asians – sneak into Italy, after having to survive rough sea voyage that kills many of them.
In the aftermath of the September 11 terror attacks in the United States, Italy has witnessed an anti-Arab and Muslim campaign, culminating in rallies in Rome and Milan calling for sending Arabs back home.
Arab immigrants consider Italy a transit stop through which they cross to other European countries with better life conditions, making use of internal open-door policy among European Union countries.
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