The surge in numbers leaving Egypt in recent years coincides with Egypt's worsening economy. The pandemic hit Egypt's vital tourist industry and the Ukraine war made investors more risk averse, driving them away from Egyptian markets. MINIBUS TO LIBYAThe Egyptian authorities have largely stopped migrant boat departures from Egypt's north coast since 2016. More migrant boats now leave from eastern Libya, close to Egypt, than from the west in the divided nation. 'COUNTRIES IN CRISIS'President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and other Egyptian officials say Egypt is doing what it can to halt the migrant flow.

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Persons: Fatma, MIT SUHAYL, Waleed el, Degwy, Mohamed el, Muammar Gaddafi, you'd, Adel Ghannam, Mit Suhayl, Mohamed, Abdel Fattah al, Naela Gabr, Mostafa Abdel Salam, Hala, Nafisa Eltahir, Aidan Lewis, Edmund Blair Organizations: REUTERS, MIT, Reuters, European, Thomson Locations: Suhayl, Greece, Sharqia governorate, Egypt, Libya, Italy, Nile Delta, Europe, Ukraine, LIBYA, Egypt's, Libyan, Sudan