Minister for Family and Population Moushira Khattab said the State Department report on human trafficking in Egypt that was issued in June 2009 is unbalanced and untrue. She explained that the report talked about early marriage and using children for sexual tourism without specifying the size of the problem or referring to statistics as to the number of the victims of these abused, pointing out that the statistics it referred to were taken from unknown sources. At a press conference yesterday on the sidelines of the second conference to discuss the family and population issues of Northern Sinai, the minister said she was unhappy with the report, as last year's report had balanced the positives and negatives equally. She added that Egypt does not hide or deny problems, but rather welcomes all constructive criticism. However, the countries that come up with such reports should evaluate themselves before others. Khattab said the report dwelled on the negatives more than the positives, undermining the role that the National Council for Childhood and Motherhood plays, especially as regards the Child's Act and the substantial progress it has achieved in fighting and reducing female genital mutilation. Instead, it addressed issues that were not raised by civil society or the government.
The minister said Egypt does not deny it has the phenomena of street children, child labor and early marriage, but the report has exaggerated the issues of child trafficking and sexual tourism and addressed in an un scientific manner. She said the report should be objective and constructive, and should balance the negatives and positives equally. On another note, the conference of Northern Sinai issued recommendations that included the need to activate all the laws on child labor, hazardous work environment, healthcare and basic education.
