Minister of Manpower and Immigration Ahmed al-Borai said he expects Cairo to reach an accord with Iraq on hundreds of millions of dollars of debt built up during the reign of Saddam Hussein, also known as yellow remittances.
In a press statement, following a meeting between Iraqi Minister of Labor and Social Affairs Nassar al-Rubaie and Egyptian Prime Minister Essam Sharaf in Cairo on Wednesday, Borai said an Egyptian technical committee will visit Baghdad to sign the accord.
The debt is money owed by Iraq to Egyptian workers who fled Iraq during the first Gulf War in the early nineties, following Iraq's invasion of Kuwait, leaving their money and businesses behind.
"The original debt owed to the Egyptian workers in Iraq, or the yellow remittances, amounts to US$408 million,” said Rubaie. “The interest on [this debt] amounts to US$544 million, bringing it to a total of US$952 million."
Rubaie explained that the problem with this debt now lies in the owed interest, and that the technical committees must now discuss this interest, particularly in light of the current Iraqi economic crisis and the absence of exports other than oil.
He pointed out that the Iraqi government wants to pay these debts as soon as possible, inviting the Egyptian Minister of Manpower to visit Iraq in the near future.
“The rights of Egyptian workers are indisputable and Iraq recognizes these rights,” said Rubaie.
He admitted that “the Mubarak regime was the reason the disbursement was delayed, as it insisted on linking the yellow remittances with the debts owed by Iraq.”
Translated from the Arabic Edition
