Published On 5/15/2026
Official Egyptian sources revealed to Al Jazeera Net that the 12 bodies that were found on a rubber boat, yesterday, Thursday, off the coast of the village of Abu Ghalila in the city of Sidi Barrani, are the bodies of young Egyptian men from 5 governorates in the country.
Sources in the Egyptian Matrouh Governorate explained that preliminary investigations into the incident revealed that the young men, who were distributed among the governorates of “Assiut, Giza, Qalyubia, Beheira, and Dakahlia,” were on board an irregular migration flight that departed from the Tajoura region in eastern Libya.
She pointed out that the young men were stranded at sea after they ran out of food and supplies, and they died one after another on board the rubber boat that was not qualified for such trips.
According to the sources, investigators have concluded that another number of irregular migrants who were on board the boat may have fallen into the sea, since the behavior of irregular migration brokers in those areas is linked to shipping the largest possible number on board those boats to achieve double profits.
The city of Sidi Barrani is located in northwest Egypt on the Mediterranean coast, along the Libyan border, and is administratively affiliated with the Egyptian Matrouh Governorate.
The concerned Egyptian authorities had transferred the bodies of the young men to Marsa Matrouh General Hospital immediately after informing the people of Abu Ghalila village that the rubber boat had been found. The bodies were decomposed and in poor condition, and it appeared that their owners had died due to lack of supplies for a period ranging between 10 and 15 days.
According to the sources, the concerned authorities began to address the young men’s families after identifying their identities through the identification papers they were in possession of, pointing out that there are naval patrols roaming the area near the Egyptian coast in the area where the rubber boat was found, and combing it in search of other bodies.
Get-rich-quick delusions
Last Sunday, the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced the liberation of hundreds of Egyptians who sought irregular migration to Europe and were detained in Libya.
It revealed its success, in coordination with the Libyan authorities, in ending the detention of 508 Egyptian citizens in Tripoli during the period from the beginning of January 2025 until the end of April of this year, in addition to releasing 871 other citizens who were detained in the city of Benghazi against the backdrop of irregular immigration cases, and their return to the country was secured for all of them.
She indicated that the consular efforts succeeded in transporting 94 bodies of Egyptian citizens who died during these trips in the first four months of this year, and in recovering 5 additional remains whose owners’ identities were identified after conducting genetic fingerprint analyzes of citizens found off the Tunisian coast.
The Ministry issued an urgent and strict appeal to citizens, warning against being led by the “get-rich-quick delusions” promoted by human smuggling gangs.
The Ministry stressed the need to avoid dealing with smuggling gangs that put the lives of young people in danger, calling on its nationals to adhere to official channels to enter neighboring countries and obtain regular visas and documented work contracts.
The Egyptian Presidency Foundation had launched an initiative in 2019 under the title “Survival Boats” to confront the phenomenon of irregular migration, targeting the governorates that source migrants in Egypt, to raise awareness of the dangers of irregular migration and provide safe alternatives to it.
The initiative includes providing financing with good, interest-free loans at an average of 15 thousand pounds (about 280 dollars) with a grace period of 6 months, and allocating funds for collective and individual production projects according to the nature of activities in the targeted areas, in addition to financing training and qualification for the labor market.
