TATOUN, Egypt — With its well-kept European-style villas, high-rise buildings, chic cafes and pizzerias, Tatoun is a far cry from nearby villages in Egypt’s central governorate of Fayoum. The picturesque village, which has a population of 54,000, is known as “Little Italy,” because about one-fourth of its working-age residents live and work in Italy, sending money back home.

Many of those who have found their way across the Mediterranean have made use of the Italian legal system, which does not immediately deport unaccompanied minors, Hussein Mohammed, a member of the Tatoun village council, told Al-Monitor.

Italian legislation forbids the return of unaccompanied minors at the border, and, as per a 2017 amendment, simplifies the procedure for the issuance of “a special residence permit for minors” to non-asylum-seeking unaccompanied minors. Confident that they can enter the country illegally and then get a residence permit for employment or study when they turn 18, families from Tatoun do not hesitate to pay a trafficker to take their 16- and 17-year-old sons to the Italian coast.

Mohammed Ahmed went to Italy seven years ago, right before he turned 18.