EMBASSY CAIRO SUBMISSION FOR SIXTH ANNUAL

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 CAIRO 001634

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

DEPT FOR NEA/ELA, G/TIP (GPATEL),AND DRL/CRA (RCASTEEL)

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KCRM PHUM SMIG KFRD ELAB PREF EG IS KWN
SUBJECT: EMBASSY CAIRO SUBMISSION FOR SIXTH ANNUAL
TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS REPORT

REF: STATE 03836

Sensitive but unclassified. Please protect accordingly. Not
for Internet distribution.


1. (SBU) This message responds to reftel. Embassy POC is
poloff Roger Kenna, phone 20-2-797-2749, fax 20-2-797-2181,
kennart2@state.gov. Poloff spent approximately 16 hours in
the preparation of the TIP report. Conoff spent
approximately 24 hours; ECPO Minister Counselor spent two
hours; DCM spent two hours. The GOE does not have a POC for
TIP. Information in this report was gleaned from bilateral
meetings, other diplomatic contacts, and press reporting.
The following input is keyed to the questions in reftel paras
21-24.

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I. Overview
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A. Egypt is neither a country of origin or destination for a
significant number of trafficking victims. However, an
unknown number of trafficking victims probably transit Egypt
en route to other destinations, notably Israel and Europe.
There are currently no reliable estimates available in Egypt
for the magnitude of the problem.


B. The trafficking scenario most commonly cited involves
young women from Eastern Europe arriving in Egypt by air,
especially in the Red Sea resorts of Sharm el-Sheikh and
Hurghada, who are then ferried overland across the border
into Israel, where they are presumed to be forcibly employed
in that country's sex industry. There were no documented
cases of such trafficking in Egypt in 2005 by the GOE or by
Egyptian media sources. A significant number of illegal
migrants transit the Suez Canal en route to Europe. Some of
these migrants could be trafficking victims. We are not
aware of any surveys or research on the extent or nature of
trafficking in Egypt. The Italian Embassy in Cairo reported
that Italy is the destination for significant numbers of
illegal migrant Egyptians who seek to cross the
Mediterranean, often with the help of smugglers. Reliable
contacts report that an unspecified number of voluntary
Egyptian migrants to Italy become trafficking victims when
they are unable to pay back loans extended to them by the
smugglers.


C. Embassy Cairo has repeatedly raised the issue of
Trafficking in Persons with the Government of Egypt at both
the Ministerial and working levels. In all of our
discussions, GOE officials have expressed determination to
fight the problem, to the extent that it exists in Egypt, and
have sought from the U.S. any available information that
could help identify extant trafficking networks inside the
country. In January 2006, First Lady Suzanne Mubarak
addressed an international meeting in Athens on TIP and said
that her NGO, the Suzanne Mubarak Women's International Peace
Movement (SMWIPM),is committed to fighting TIP of women and
children. (Note: Post has contacted the SMWIPM to seek
details on its plan of action and to seek possible
cooperation. Post has shared anti-TIP information supplied
by G/TIP with SMWIPM. End note.) The GOE devotes
significant resources toward patrolling and policing its
borders. Geography and resource limitations preclude total
success. During a January 2005 visit, Embassy officials and
visiting G/TIP staff met with Egyptian security officials in
the Sinai who asserted that trafficking of Eastern European
women, while never a major issue of concern for the
Government, had been minimal in recent months. According to
Israeli press reporting, based on "police data," 2005
witnessed a significant drop in the number of foreign women
working as prostitutes in Israel, from 3000 in 2001 to
"several hundred" in 2005. This development, if true, may in
turn correlate to positive trends in the decrease of TIP via
Egypt.


D. There is no evidence to suggest involvement of any kind
of either Governmental authorities or individual members of
Government forces in facilitating or condoning trafficking.
Due to lack of training and resource limitations, individual
Government officials may not necessarily be equipped to
identify and prevent instances of trafficking. Egyptian law
prohibits prostitution as well as the solicitation and
facilitation of commercial sex. The "sale of child brides"
has not been documented, per se, although the payment of
dowries and marriage at relatively young ages are in keeping
with cultural traditions. Girls marrying below the age of 18
require parental permission. Girls below the age of 16 may
not marry. Infringements of these laws are thought to be
common, particularly in rural areas.
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II. Prevention
--------------

A-B. The Government acknowledges that some trafficking
victims may transit Egypt. The Government reports that it is
not currently aware of information that suggests a flow of
such persons. Government agencies that would be involved in
combating trafficking are the border police, immigration, and
customs inspectors, overseen by State Security Investigations
Service, and ultimately the Ministry of Interior. Officials
responsible for consular affairs or tourism could also
potentially become involved in responding to suspected
trafficking cases.

C. There are currently no anti-trafficking information or
education campaigns being conducted in Egypt. We are not
aware of any Egyptian NGOs which systematically monitor or
document trafficking in persons cases. Egyptian human rights
and women's NGOs tell us they are not aware of a significant
trafficking problem in Egypt.


D. The Government devotes significant resources to
patrolling and policing its borders, particularly the Sinai
desert border with Israel. The Government does not currently
have a specific program to monitor migration and travel
patterns for evidence of trafficking although it exerts
robust efforts to combat illegal migration and alien
smuggling. In particular, in the aftermath of the October 7,
2004 terror bombings in Sinai, which killed 34 people, the
Government has made a concerted effort to increase security
in Sinai, especially with regard to alleged illegal
activities by the Sinai Bedouin tribes. Press reports note
that the Government has engaged in a wide-ranging crackdown
on suspected criminals in the Sinai. In addition, press
reports in early 2005 detailed the Government's signing of a
"pledge document" with tribal leaders, which committed the
tribal leadership to reporting illegal activities, apparently
including TIP. In February 2005, press reports noted that
irregular Bedouin militia cooperated with Government security
forces during a search for terrorism suspects, which led to a
gun battle near Ras Sadr, which in turn left several terror
suspects dead or captured.


F. Egyptian civil society is not focused on TIP. On human
rights and related matters, Egyptian civil society has a
sometimes contentious relationship with the GOE.


G. Anecdotal information supplied by GOE border security
personnel suggests that the GOE does not have comprehensive
program to monitor immigration/emigration for evidence of
trafficking.

H-J. The Government has interagency working groups which
coordinate on law enforcement issues, although none are
specifically devoted to anti-TIP efforts. The Government has
a special office for investigating and prosecuting public
corruption cases. The Government prosecutes persons found to
be involved in alien smuggling. Egyptian Government
officials participate in international fora convened to
combat TIP. There are no specific Government anti-TIP action
plans or anti-trafficking programs.

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III. Investigation and Prosecution of Traffickers
-------------- --------------

A-C. Egyptian law does not specifically prohibit trafficking
in persons. However, other parts of the criminal code, such
as laws against rape, abduction, prostitution, and forced
labor, may be used to prosecute traffickers. Slavery is
illegal. The maximum penalty for rape is life imprisonment.
Egyptian Ministry of Justice officials told G/TIP and Embassy
officials during a December 2004 meeting in Cairo that the
Government is developing new legislation that will probably
incorporate specific language on trafficking in persons.
Embassy Cairo passed to the Ministry of Justice "legal
building blocks" for anti-trafficking legislation developed
by G/TIP. This legislation has not yet been presented to the
Parliament for ratification.


D. Prostitution is illegal and the activities of prostitutes
are criminalized.


E. In December 2003, an Egyptian court convicted Moataz
Attiya Mohammad Hassan, a.k.a. Abu Qusay, of manslaughter and
aiding illegal immigration for his role in the deaths of 353
persons trying to reach Australia when their boat sank. Abu
Qusay was sentenced to seven-years in prison, although the
sentence was reduced on appeal to three years. In February
2005, a criminal court in South Sinai convicted Talal Soliman
of attempting to smuggle 5 Russian (and/or Moldovan) women to
Israel. Soliman was sentenced to 3.5 years in prison.
According to press accounts, Sinai police in July 2003 had
sought to detain Soliman when he was transporting the Eastern
European women from south Sinai to Israel. Soliman opened
fire on the police and wounded one of them before he was
detained.

According to a Cairo-based Russian diplomatic source, in
September 2002, three Moldovan women were abducted from a
hotel in Sharm el-Sheikh by Bedouin who raped them and
apparently tried to transport them to Israel. One of the
victims escaped and informed Egyptian police, who
successfully rescued the other two victims and arrested the
perpetrators. According to the Russian, the perpetrators
were eventually convicted and received 25-year sentences.
The Russian diplomat said no trafficking cases have come to
his attention since that time.


F. Egyptian law enforcement contacts generally identify
Sinai Bedouin as engaging in the smuggling of contraband,
possibly including humans, from Egypt into Israel. In
October 2004, an Associated Press story reported that a gun
battle between Bedouin smugglers and police in September had
left an unspecified number of policemen wounded and 13
people, mainly Eastern European women, in Egyptian police
custody. Embassy Cairo officials were unable to confirm the
details of the AP account with Egyptian police contacts.

G-H. The Government does not currently provide specialized
training in how to recognize, investigate, or prosecute
instances of trafficking. The Government advises that
instances of trafficking rarely come to its attention, but
has explicitly requested from the U.S. any information that
could identify such instances in Egypt. The Government is
not currently known to be involved in any international
investigations of trafficking cases.

I-M. The Government is not known to have ever extradited
persons charged with trafficking to face prosecution in other
countries. However, in the Abu Qusay case, the Government
requested the defendant's extradition from Indonesia, which
was granted. There is no evidence of Government involvement
in or tolerance for trafficking nor is there evidence of a
child sex tourism problem.


N. Egypt is a signatory of ILO convention 182 concerning
prohibition of the worst forms of child labor. Egypt is also
a party to the Convention on the Rights of the Child (with a
reservation regarding adoption) ILO Convention 29, and ILO
Convention 105. Egypt is also a signatory to the Protocol to
Prevent, Suppress, and Punish Trafficking in Persons
supplementing the UN Convention Against Transnational
Organized Crime.

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IV. Protection and Assistance to Victims
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A-I. The Government reports that its consular and
immigration officials, at home and abroad, have been
instructed to be on the alert for possible instances of
illegal migration and fraudulent travel, which would include
trafficking. However, the Government does not currently have
any programs for victim assistance or specialized training
for personnel in identifying trafficking victims. The
Government does not currently make special provisions for
victims' participation in prosecutions or for protection for
victims as witnesses nor does it provide specialized training
in TIP to government officials. There are currently no NGOs
in Egypt focused on providing services to trafficking victims.

RICCIARDONE