Cairo — IOM, the UN Migration Agency, and the National Coordinating Committee on Combatting and Preventing Illegal Migration and Trafficking in Persons (NCCPIM&TIP) launched song, “Fares,” and its accompanying video clip on 28 April in cooperation with UNICEF Egypt.

The song and video are part of the second national awareness raising campaign focusing on the dangers of irregular migration, with the endorsement of popular Egyptian artists Zap Tharwat and Ahmed Shiba.

IOM and UNICEF joined forces to support the public advocacy efforts of the Egyptian Government. The “Fares” video reached almost 400,000 views in two days.

IOM Egypt Chief of Mission Laurent De Boeck, announced the release as follows: “This is an important song aimed at raising awareness among the young population of Egypt of the dangers of irregular migration and human trafficking. It is important to try to make Egyptians see Egypt as a solution instead of contemplating migration as the only opportunity to resolve challenges.”

The campaign is to be followed by a community outreach activation in the six governorates with the highest number of irregular departures across Egypt.

Under the first part of the campaign, IOM Egypt developed a video featuring Egyptian international footballer Hazem Emam, to inform the target population of the dangers involved in attempting sea migration journeys. The video was augmented by a social media campaign which incorporated messages from IOM’s ‘Aware Migrants’ campaign, launched earlier this year by IOM Italy. 

To raise awareness on the dangers of irregular migration, the Aware Migrants campaign shows a variety of narratives from trafficking survivors intended to address migrants in transit and potential migrants.

The number of Egyptian youth migrating irregularly to European countries, particularly Italy and Greece, has dramatically increased over the past decade due to multiple push and pull factors. In 2017, Egyptian

Unaccompanied Migrant Children (UMC) ranked second among all nationalities of UMCs present in the Italian territory, with a total of 2,093 cases.

In coming years, Egypt is expected to see an increase in emigration rates (including irregular migration) given its fast population growth—coupled with increased unemployment, limited livelihood opportunities and increasingly restrained regular migration opportunities.

With these flows reaching unprecedented levels since 2015, the Government of Egypt (GoE) has engaged fully in tackling the phenomenon nationally and regionally. Building on ongoing efforts, IOM supports the GoE in combating irregular migration of Egyptian youth through a comprehensive approach. While ensuring the availability of accurate information on the realities of irregular migration is essential for youth to make responsible migratory decisions, studies and experience from around the world demonstrate that awareness-raising activities are insufficient to discourage men and women from embarking on perilous migratory trajectories in the absence of regular migration alternatives.

Therefore, the proposed program will consist of two complementary interventions:  i) supporting the GoE to inform Egyptian youth and children about the risks and dangers of irregular migration and trafficking in persons as well as safe and regular alternatives; and ii) shedding light on positive life alternatives for youth and children at-risk of irregular migration.

For more information please contact Andrea Dabizzi at IOM Egypt, Tel: +202 2736 51 40, Email: adabizzi@iom.int