Kafr 'Abd Allah 'Azizah, Egypt, Feb 18, 2026 (AFP) - 'Pay or he dies', families told as more Egyptians risk Mediterranean crossing

NAMPA / AFP

2026-02-18

Weeks after Hamdy Ibrahim left his village in Egypt's Nile Delta hoping to reach Europe, his brother's phone rang with a chilling message from Libya: pay now or the boy would die. A smuggler was on the line, demanding 190,000 pounds ($4,000) to secure the 18-year-old's place on a boat, part of a rising exodus that last year made Egyptians the top African and second-largest global group of irregular migrants to Europe. "I told him we couldn't affo......

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