UPDATE ON CUSTOMS ISSUES AT RAFAH BORDER

UNCLAS CAIRO 001738 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE FOR NEA/ELA AND NEA/RA TREASURY FOR HIRSON AND GLASER E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ECON EFIN PREL KPAL IS EG SUBJECT: UPDATE ON CUSTOMS ISSUES AT RAFAH BORDER REF: CAIRO 1737 ¶1. (SBU) Summary: Emboffs met on May 31 with Egyptian officials at the Rafah border. The officials indicated that the border opens only infrequently, taxing border staff's ability to process the large number of travelers attempting to cross during these short openings. Gazans who cross during a short opening of the border often end up spending several days in Egypt, waiting for the next opening to return to Gaza. Movement of commercial goods remains an unrealized goal, although individuals often carry several large bags across the border, the contents of which may be used for commercial purposes. Travelers are required to fill out Customs declaration forms, and disclose any amount of currency over USD 10,000. A traveler not carry any currency into Egypt is only allowed to carry out a maximum of USD 3,000. Egyptian officials indicated that they had not seen any travelers carrying large amounts of cash across the border in several months. Representatives of the EU Border Assistance Mission (BAM) echoed these statements and indicated that Palestinian officials on the Gaza side of the border handling processing during border openings relatively well. End summary. ¶2. (U) On May 31 Econoff and Treasury Attache met with Colonel Ashraf el-Eweny, an Egyptian border official with the military intelligence branch LAWIO (Liaison With International Organizations) at the Rafah border crossing to discuss current issues at the border. Ashraf noted that given the continued periodic violence in Gaza, the border is open infrequently, and news of an opening is broadcast in Gaza the day before to alert those who need to cross. He estimated that the border was open on average roughly twice a week for a few hours each time. The infrequent and unpredictable openings lead to a strong surge of travelers when the border does open and Ashraf noted that several thousand travelers may cross on a day when the border is open, heavily taxing the capacity of the border staff to process them efficiently. Ashraf did note that the passenger terminal is open around the clock so that it can be ready to process people if the Palestinian side opens on short notice. Due to the short openings of the border, travelers usually try to cross into Egypt and back into Gaza in one trip. If travelers are not able to cross back into Gaza on the same day, however, they can remain stuck on the Egyptian side of the border for several days before another opening allows them to cross back into Gaza. Numerous crossers also end up staying in tents in the Philadelphi corridor, the strip of land in between the Egyptian side of the border and the Gaza side of the border. Those who find themselves in this area have usually exited Egypt but been denied re-entry into Gaza. ¶3. (U) Commercial movement of goods, as envisioned in the Agreement on Movement and Access document, remains an unrealized ideal. Individuals are allowed to bring 2-3 large bags across, much of which likely does contain items for commercial purposes (reftel). Customs officials are authorized to search all travelers and their possessions, and periodically confiscate smuggled goods such as tobacco or ammunition. Customs officials told Emboffs that Palestinian travelers are required to fill out a Customs declaration form that asks if they are carrying more than USD 10,000 in currency. This is true for all travelers entering all airports, seaports and land crossing into Egypt. Egyptian law does not allow for confiscation of sums over USD 10,000, provided the currency is declared, but those travelers carrying more than USD 10,000 into Egypt are not allowed to carry more than that amount out of Egypt when returning to Gaza, unless it can be documented that it was obtained legally. ¶4. (SBU) According to Customs officials, many travelers cross the border with no currency at all. In these cases, Customs authorities, following a special procedure specific to the Rafah border, only permit travelers to carry USD 3,000 back across the border. Sums larger than USD 3,000 are confiscated, and the cash turned over to the judicial system for processing. Travelers can attempt to get their cash back through the legal system, but the money ends up transferred to the Ministry of Finance if the traveler is unsuccessful. Although they could not provide specific quantities, Customs officials indicated that they have not seen large amounts of money crossing the border in the last several months. Colonel El-Eweny added that no PA officials have crossed the border since PA PM Haniyeh attempt to cross the border four months ago. When asked about procedures in the event that they noticed suspicious behavior, the Customs officials indicated that they conducted secondary searches and filled out reports which were sent to Customs authorities in Cairo. They did not know how/if such reports were received or processed by the Central Bank's Money Laundering Combating Unit. ¶5. (SBU) Representatives from the EU Border Assistance Mission told Econoff that Palestinian authorities on the Gaza side of the border are operating relatively well. The BAM reps echoed Colonel El-Eweny's statements, indicating that they have not recently seen any travelers carrying large amounts of cash coming across the border. RICCIARDONE