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Dear Mr. Prime Minister Why don’t unemployed people in Egypt receive unemployment support?
In a country where people cannot afford their basic needs for a humane life and strive to find an honest working opportunity, the meaning of belonging and trust between citizens and the government has vanished or became a joke. Illegal emigration has become a hope for many people even if it meant loosing their lives. Theft, bribery and illegal work are the usual thing nowadays. In a country where governmental employees abuse their authorities and refuse to implement the laws without any supervision or punishment, and big officials continue admitting society’s problems in their statements without presenting any practical solutions, governments and authorities become meaningless for citizens who feel depressed, despair and frustrated and forced to use violence and deception to obtain their rights considering the government as an example or ideal.
Despite all that, we are surprised with official statements stating the increase of growth levels and work opportunities for thousands of people, and the improvement of services and infrastructures, and normal citizens are not able to understand what is going on or what to do.
LCHR wonders, till when will this situation remain? How could the people sustain their daily basic needs under the continuing price increases and the increase of the unemployment rates that have reached more than 5 million people? Also the number of workers in the unofficial sector has reached more than 5 million people without any guarantees to their rights. Also governmental procedures prevent the implementation of laws especially those related to social security.
LCHR has received complaints from workers from different governorates sating that they went to the labor offices in their governorates asking for the unemployment support as stated in the law, but the employees rejected their demands without any excuses.
The LCHR presented their complaints to the Prime Minister, the Minister of Manpower, the Minister of Social Solidarity and the Head of the Labor Union to implement the law and pay these workers their unemployment dues according to articles no. 92 and 93 that stipulated 6 conditions for the unemployed to receive this type of support, and the most important condition was that the insured worker must register his name in the unemployed official record book at the specialized manpower office to insure their desire to work within a week of his unemployment as an implementation to decision no. 311/1976 issued by the Insurance Minister. These article also stipulated that the insured worker must visit the manpower office where he is registered as unemployed in the specified dates as an implementation to decision no. 9/1976 to prove the dates of his visits and the continuation of his unemployment status and receive an employee signature and stamp on his due card.
The LCHR wonders, what could these people do against the refusal of the governmental employees to register their names, sign and stamp their compensation cards, especially when most of them are insured and have been paying the social security subscription fees during the times when they were working? These people should receive the money they have been paying for social security, which has been subtracted from their salaries.
In addition to that, article no. 150 of law no. 79 for the year 1975 drops the insurance condition, which mean that uninsured workers also deserve to receive unemployment support.
Since these actions are considered a violation to the laws, the LCHR is preparing a challenge to be presented before the Administrative Judicial Courts demanding the Prime Minister and the Minister of Social Solidarity to issue decisions to provide the unemployed with unemployment support as stated in the Egyptian laws.
LCHR calls all unemployed people in Egypt to quickly register their names in the unemployed official record book and extract compensation cards stamped by the labor office and step forward to the social security corporation to receive their unemployment dues.
LCHR also call all civil society organizations and members of the People’s Assembly to work on amending the legislations and decisions of the Ministers of Manpower and Social Solidarity to facilitate the procedure of paying the unemployed their unemployment dues to guarantee workers’ rights to social security, and safe and free living.
For more information, please contact the Center