The Egyptian response to a US report on human trafficking ducked the real issues to complain about numbers, writes Nehal Fahmi* The US State Department's report on human trafficking stepped on many toes in the Middle East and elsewhere. The report, which tackles the urgent matter of international trafficking, divided countries into four levels. The fourth were those with the worst records. Alongside many other states in the region, Egypt found itself lumped in category two. Categorisation is a risky business, for it could alienate some countries to the point where they spend more time defending themselves than reading the report. No one can blame governments for disagreeing with their ranking or questioning the standards on which the report based its decisions. But we must not make the matter of ranking our sole concern. Let's keep in mind that the annual reports on human trafficking started to appear under the Bush administration. The 2009 report is the ninth, and it is likely that President Obama will maintain the same interest as his predecessor in the topic. The report is issued by the Department of State because the data it uses is collected by US embassies abroad. The embassies compile data from information provided by official and non-official sources, civil society groups and international organisations. The report covers virtually 175 countries. The US is excluded not because human trafficking doesn't happen there but because the US agency that discusses the matter at home is not the State Department but the Office of the attorney-general. The latter produces regular reports on the matter, the most recent of which came out in May 2008 and is available on the Internet. The report concluded that Egypt is an exporter, transit point and destination for the victims of human trafficking, including women and children who become victims of forced work and sexual exploitation. According to the report, victims of human trafficking end up working as prostitutes, beggars, house servants and agricultural labourers. Some of the victims work against their will and are deprived of mobility. Their pay is withheld, and they can face threats and sexual assault. The most controversial aspect of the report's coverage of Egypt was its estimate of the number of street children in Egypt, given as one million. This is the number the State Department report on street children has used since 2002. If it is true, it could be read as a backhanded compliment. One would have expected the number to rise with the economic crisis and the disintegration of family ties. Rather than dismiss the figure, and with it allegations about the kinds of exploitation street children suffer, it would be more helpful to dismiss the charges. We cannot just claim that abuses are few and far between, for they are not. The report looks into the case of short- term marriages between Egyptians and rich Arabs, a widespread phenomenon in some villages. It is one of the main reasons Egypt is viewed as a country that exports people for illicit purposes, in this case under the guise of marriage. Men who leave the country and end up as illegal immigrants abroad are also subject to a wide range of commercial and sexual exploitation, and Egyptians may become the victims of forced labour in some Arab countries. As for under-age sexual tourism, while it is true that the phenomenon is not as widespread in Egypt as in some other countries, it exists and has been reported. Egypt is a destination country for this form of human trafficking, a phenomenon that has grown since Sudanese refugees started arriving in the country. Some gangs, involving Sudanese men, force Sudanese women into prostitution against their will. Egypt is a transit country for East European women heading to Israel. This is a problem that calls for action. Trans-border criminal gangs are involved. Some are backed by the Russian mafia, which is powerful in Israel. Bedouins in Sinai, and in Israel, are also involved. The report doesn't mention trade in human organs, not because the practice is not considered human trafficking but because American law doesn't cover it. The report failed to disclose the sources for its estimate of the number of street children in Egypt. But for all we know the figure may be correct. It may even be higher than the one million the report suggests. Yet on the whole the report was even- handed in its discussion of the problems involved and there was no suggestion that it has set out to demonise or vilify. It attempts simply to show what governments are doing to combat human trafficking. We may or may not agree with the criteria it used but we cannot dismiss it off hand. And if we don't like what was said about us and want to quibble about the date, the solution is easy. Start collecting accurate data of our own. * The writer is an expert in international organisations and human trafficking.
