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Egypt’s Endowments Ministry to Combat Drug Abuse among Public Sector Employees

Egypt’s Ministry of Endowments is planning to carry out a series of measures to combat drug abuse among public sector employees.
Egypt’s Ministry of Endowments is planning to carry out a series of measures to combat drug abuse among public sector employees.
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Egypt’s Endowments Ministry to Combat Drug Abuse among Public Sector Employees

Egypt’s Ministry of Endowments is planning to carry out a series of measures to combat drug abuse among public sector employees.
Egypt’s Ministry of Endowments is planning to carry out a series of measures to combat drug abuse among public sector employees.

Egypt’s Ministry of Endowments is planning to carry out a series of measures to combat drug abuse among public sector employees.

The Ministry unified Friday prayer sermons at all the country’s mosques to address the dangers of drugs and addiction. The sermon was also published on the Ministry website in several languages.

The government continues to implement intense anti-drug measures by carrying out tests for all the public sector employees, threatening to fire those who do not take these tests. It also allows employees to apply for addiction treatment in secret and free of cost.

Legislative amendments will be made to impose harsher measures against drug abuse and they will be applied to all workers, an informed source said.

The source, who is a ministry employee, said: “These tests aim to protect society from the threats of by drug abuse.”

President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi had previously stressed that Egypt will fire any employee found to be abusing drugs.

He made the announcement shortly after a railway employee involved in a deadly Cairo train station accident in February tested positive for narcotics.

Sisi vowed that the employee will be held accountable by law.

The Ministry of Endowments explained that it chose to translate the Friday sermon as part of its duty to raise awareness, adding that it sought to demonstrate that Islam was a religion of peace and mercy that promotes tolerance and coexistence.

It stressed that drugs and addiction, and terrorism are two sides of the same coin as both are deadly to the users. Wasting money on drugs is no different than wasting money to carry out terror acts, it said.

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Libya's Anti-NGO Push Seen as Diversion from Internal Failures, Analysts Say

Head of Libya's Government of National Unity Abdulhamid al-Dbeibah - File Photo
Head of Libya's Government of National Unity Abdulhamid al-Dbeibah - File Photo
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Libya's Anti-NGO Push Seen as Diversion from Internal Failures, Analysts Say

Head of Libya's Government of National Unity Abdulhamid al-Dbeibah - File Photo
Head of Libya's Government of National Unity Abdulhamid al-Dbeibah - File Photo

Libya's suspension of 10 international humanitarian groups, part of a broader crackdown on African migrants, is aimed at masking domestic failures and securing external concessions, particularly from Europe, analysts have said, AFP reported.

Libya's Tripoli-based authorities announced on Wednesday a decision to suspend the Norwegian Refugee Council, Doctors Without Borders (MSF), Terre des Hommes, CESVI and six other groups, accusing them of a plan to "settle migrants" from other parts of Africa in the country.

War-torn Libya is a key departure point on North Africa's Mediterranean coast for migrants, mainly from sub-Saharan African countries, risking dangerous sea voyages in the hope of reaching Europe.

Anas al-Gomati, director of the Tripoli-based Sadeq Institute think tank, said "this isn't about NGOs -- it's about creating enemies to distract from failures".

The UN-recognized government of Abdulhamid Dbeibah is "tapping into conservative anxieties while masking their inability to provide basic services", he told AFP.

The ultimate goal, according to Gomati, is to "extract concessions from Europe which, fearing potential migration surges, will offer new funding packages and prop up the government in Tripoli".

On Wednesday, Rome announced the allocation of 20 million euros to the International Organization for Migration (IOM) to finance "voluntary repatriations" for 3,300 sub-Saharan migrants who arrived in Algeria, Tunisia and Libya.

"This isn't coincidence -- its coordination. The Libyan authorities shut down NGOs providing monitoring and protection (for migrants) precisely as Italy announces 20 million euros for 'voluntary' returns," said Gomati.

"Italy gets to claim they're funding 'voluntary' returns while Libya gets to demonstrate 'sovereignty', all while vulnerable migrants face extortion in detention before being labelled 'volunteers' for deportation."

Libya analyst Jalel Harchaoui noted that the Tripoli government is adopting a similar tone to Tunisian President Kais Saied, who in early 2023 denounced what he called "hordes of sub-Saharan migrants" who threatened to "change the country's demographic composition".

Harchaoui, of the London-based Royal United Services Institute, said Dbeibah was facing considerable difficulties, particularly in gaining access to public funds, and his once pragmatic relationship with the Haftar family in the east had deteriorated.

Following the NGO ban, aid groups have expressed concern for both their Libyan colleagues and the migrants who have been made more vulnerable in a country that, according to the IOM, is home to more than 700,000 residents from sub-Saharan countries.

The International Commission of Jurists on Friday condemned the "recent collective expulsions, arrests, violent attacks and the surge of hate speech, including that which constitutes incitement to violence, against migrants, refugees and asylum seekers in Libya".

The organization noted that the Libyan interior ministry has pledged "the deportation of 100,000 migrants every four months".