Sisi says Egypt prioritises development of legislations related to refugees

Monday 19-09-2016 06:54 PM

Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. REUTERS

CAIRO, Sept 19 (Aswat Masriya) - Egypt's president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said on Monday that the Egyptian government prioritised the development of legislations related to the reception of refugees.

Sisi made his statements in a speech before heads of states and governments at a high-level summit addressing the refugee and migrants crisis organised by the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).

During his speech, Sisi said that Egypt has set laws to ban illegal immigration. He told the assembly that Egypt is hosting some five million refugees and that the government is working to provide them means of decent living.

According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the world is facing the "highest levels of displacement on record".

UNHCR said that by the end of 2015, a total of "65.3 million individuals were forcibly displaced worldwide.  Among them are nearly21.3 million refugees, over half of whom are under the age of 18."

Turkey hosts the largest number of refugees.

Around 54% of the refugees worldwide came from Syria, Afghanistan and Somalia, according to UNHCR statistics.

The Egyptian president arrived in New York on Sunday for a four-day visit to attend the UNGA's 71st session.

He is set to meet with US presidential Republican candidate Donald Trump and his rival Democrat candidate Hillary Clinton on the sidelines of the UNGA meeting.

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