CAIRO — Egyptian Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation, Mohamed Abdel Aty, warned July 2 European countries against illegal immigration should the filling of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) be completed.

Speaking at a conference organized by the German Federal Ministry of the Environment, Nature Conservation, and Nuclear Safety, Abdel Aty said his country is one of the driest countries in the world — a situation that may be exacerbated if Ethiopia continues to insist on filling the GERD. He continued that the lack of water could cause the youth to make illegal travels to Europe, and many of them could end up joining terrorist groups, according to the ministry’s statement.

According to an Egyptian Irrigation Ministry statement, Abdel Aty explained during the conference that a shortage of 1 billion cubic meters of water will cause some 200,000 families to lose their main source of livelihood in agriculture, stressing that about 40 million Egyptians work in agriculture.

The Egyptian government has been demanding the signing of a fair and binding legal agreement for filling and operating the GERD, which ensures that Cairo’s share of the Nile waters, amounting to 55 billion cubic meters annually, is not affected.