Egypt Gov. Discusses Services Provided to Refugees

Egypt's Prime Minister, Mostafa Madbouly, held a meeting on Monday to discuss the care provided to refugees of various nationalities who reside in Egypt. According to some international estimates, their numbers exceed 9 million individuals.

The meeting was attended by several ministers, including the Ministers of Supply and Internal Trade, Health and Population, Social Solidarity, Local Development, Education, Technical Education, and Labour, along with officials from concerned authorities.

Madbouly highlighted the importance of documenting the state's contributions to caring for refugees and counting the expenses incurred for providing services in various sectors, just like Egyptians. He emphasized the need to keep track of the state's various efforts to care for these millions of refugees.

The Minister of Education and Technical Education presented a report on the number of refugee students, which has recently increased. He urged the ministry to establish more new classes to accommodate the increasing numbers of refugee students.

The Minister of Health and Population, Khaled Abdel Ghaffar, revealed that approximately 9 million refugees and immigrants reside in Egypt from 133 different countries. The ratio of males to females is 50.4% to 49.6%, with an average age of 35 years. They represent 8.7% of Egypt's population.

Abdel Ghaffar stated that 56% of the refugees and immigrants reside in Cairo, Giza, Alexandria, Dakahlia, and Damietta. Moreover, 60% of them have lived in Egypt for about 10 years, with 6% having been living integrated into Egyptian society for 15 years or more. He added that 37% of them work in stable jobs and companies.

Abdel Ghaffar also referred to the International Organization for Migration's August 2023 report, which confirmed that refugees, migrants, and asylum seekers in Egypt have equal access to national services in the education and health sectors, similar to Egyptians.