Minister of Manpower and Immigration Fathy Fekry said on Tuesday that Egypt intends to request interest on the remittances of the Egyptians who lived and worked in Iraq during the Gulf War, known as the yellow remittances.
The Iraqi government agreed on 17 March to transfer US$408 million to the Egyptian government, belonging to 637,000 Egyptians who fled Iraq during Saddam Hussein's invasion of Kuwait in 1990.
“The government cannot waive that interest, which belongs to the people,” Fekry said.
Iraqi Minister of Labor and Social Affairs Nassar al-Rubaie said he does not mind if Egypt requests the interest in the future, which would bring the total due amount to US$982 million, of which US$408 million were already paid.
He also said that Iraq and Egypt would sign a memorandum of understanding for the development of bilateral relations regarding labor, the exchange of expertise and training.
Translated from Al-Masry Al-Youm
