CAIRO: The Egyptian National Center for Criminal and Social Research has signed an agreement with a UN “capacity – building” program in order to strengthen the fields of human rights and the United Nations in Egypt on Saturday, namely for the fighting of human trafficking. The agreement is to finance the preparation of a comprehensive study on the phenomenon of human trafficking in Egypt and to discern the causes, factors and methods of combating the growing problem in Egypt. Ambassador Wael Aboul-Magd, Director of the Human Rights department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said that the National Committee for the Coordination for Combating Human Trafficking, since it began work in 2007, its framework has been to address all aspects of the fight against this problem facing Egyptian society. He added that it considered the need for a comprehensive study and field survey to “determine the actual size of the phenomenon of trafficking of human beings in Egypt, taking into account the fact that this phenomenon has more than one form, hence, the Committee considered resorting to a study to determine the geographical scope of the proliferation of human trafficking, rather than scattering the efforts of controlling the phenomenon.” Aboul Magd argued that the Committee has called upon the National Center for Criminal and Social Research to capitalize on their efforts and background work, “because they have distinctive researchers working in the area of field studies and research for a long time, and have experience in this area.” The proposed study plans to cover all parts of the country, dealing with a number of human trafficking trends in Egypt. A statement from the committee noted that, based on the results of that study, “the organizations of the United Nations, in cooperation with the International Organization for Migration will intensify their efforts in dealing with the issue of trafficking in human beings, with a focus on raising public awareness through media campaigns and through building the capacity of the relevant parties to the case.” Within a related context, Ambassador Naila Gabr, Assistant to the Foreign Minister for International Organization Affairs, chairwoman of the National Committee for the coordination of combating human trafficking, held a meeting with representatives of civil society in Egypt to explain the philosophy and objectives of the new draft law on the criminalization of trafficking in persons and to identify insights and proposals of these institutions on the case. Gabr said that “the philosophy of the law is primarily to protect the rights of victims through the emphasis on the decriminalization of illegal acts that they may commit and provide all forms of health assistance, legal, social and economic development necessary for them,” pointing out that the draft law aims at criminalizing all forms of trafficking and the imposition of strict penalties on all parties involved. The goal, she said, was not to punish the victim. **reporting by Mohamed Abdel Salam BM
