Egypt has been concerned with the migration issue for decades, Assistant Foreign Minister Hisham Badr said.

During a meeting of the European Union-Horn of Africa Migration Route Initiative in Sharm El Sheikh, Badr said Egypt has recently joined and ratified all agreements related to asylum, migration and the fight of human trafficking, especially that most of the incoming migrants in the past decades have been from the Arab region.

Egypt has established two national committees to fight illegal migration and human trafficking, the Egyptian official said.

For his part, head of the EU Delegation to Egypt James Moran said illegal migration has claimed the lives of 15,000 persons, making it a dire need to fight human traffickers.

Moran hailed Egypt's role in fighting illegal migration.