Egyptian President: Migrants Must 'Abide by Traditions and Culture' of the West
Abdel Fattah al-Sisi addresses immigrants living in Western countries
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Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has said that Migrants living in Western countries should “completely abide by the laws, customs, traditions, and culture.”
The President urged migrants who had moved into Western societies to work on making their home countries worth staying in.
“Every country has the right to protect its people and their interests,” the Arab leader told the World Youth Forum in Sharm-el-Sheikh, emphasizing that Western countries had every right to uphold human rights “in a framework that preserves [their] national interests.
The Egyptian leader told his audience:
“[I]f you go to another country as a guest, you must completely abide by its laws, customs, traditions, and culture. You must abide by them completely. If you are not willing to do this, don’t go.”
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If the advice was delivered by someone like Donald Trump, you could imagine the left-liberal outrage.
“Instead of asking me why countries [in the West] close their gates to us, you should ask yourself why the people of Afghanistan don’t take better care of their own country. Why have they been killing one another for 40 years?” he continued provocatively.
“This happens in other countries as well – in Pakistan, in Egypt, in Syria, in Libya, in Iraq, in Yemen, and in Somalia," he began.
"We fight amongst ourselves in our own countries, and then we expect countries that work day and night to achieve progress to protect their people and to maintain a certain standard of living for them — we demand that they let us in so we can have part of their [success],” he added.
Egyptian President Al-Sisi: People in Undeveloped Countries Should Not Expect the West to Welcome Them; They Should Solve Their Own Countries' Problems Instead pic.twitter.com/ZN5hK203Zl
— MEMRI (@MEMRIReports) December 13, 2018
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“Do you expect them to open their doors so that we can go there demanding to keep our own culture?”
Al-Sisi declared that migrants who “demand to go [to the West] with your culture which you consider to be non-negotiable. You say, ‘this is how we are, and you must accept us [because of] human rights’. No.”
“Don’t expect them to open the door for you so you can go into their country and cause trouble. No.”
The advice from the leader is a far cry from other leaders in Europe amid growing tension among EU members regarding asylum seekers and who will take them.
The massive influx of refugees to places like Italy, who reportedly turned boats of migrants away and sent them to the European Union allies, has instilled public discontent over Brussels' immigration policy.
