CAIRO: Egypt is taking strict measures to curb human trafficking on both the local and international platforms, amid severe US criticism for the inadequacy of its efforts to combat a phenomenon that is spreading fast in today's globalized world of free markets.The dark side of globalization, human trafficking, is the third biggest illegal trade after drugs and weapons. Statistics indicate that the $32 billion industry accounts for the loss of 2.4 million people every year. The Situation in EgyptIn keeping with global attempts to resist the trade in humans, Egyptian security authorities are intensifying efforts to police the borders in Sinai and near Sudan, which are considered hotbeds for foreign illegal immigrants, asylum seekers and human traffickers. Women from Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union were reported to have been smuggled with the help of the Bedouins to Israel and the EU through the Sinai Desert. Also the chaotic situation across the Sahara, especially in Darfur, Southern Sudan and Ethiopia could have encouraged acts of human trafficking as African asylum seekers attempt to cross Egyptian borders. The local dimension of human trafficking includes child labor, the sexual exploitation of children, the sale of human organs as well as various forms of prostitution. The issue has now become a major topic of concern for social scientists, police and law-enforcement authorities as well as rehabilitation centers. Several measures have been introduced to fight off phenomena related to human trafficking.The National Council for Childhood and Motherhood, for instance, started a hotline (number 16000) to provide round-the-clock assistance to children and women in distress. The National Coordinating Committee to Combat and Prevent Trafficking in Persons has also been set up and is charged with the implementation of related laws and the follow-up on reported cases. There is also an intensive media campaign that highlights the issue in the form of TV programs and major conferences and events. During her participation in the Vienna Forum to Fight Human Trafficking earlier this year, First Lady Suzanne Mubarak vowed to support the war against that type of modern slavery. A voluntary reactionAnalysts, however, believe that in spite of the seemingly serious crackdown, these efforts are insufficient and fail to live up to international security measures.This triggers the grave question of where Egypt stands amid the bedlam that surrounds human trafficking.Critics argue that the fast strides towards reform were taken hastily in reaction to the "The Trafficking in Persons Report released every year by the US Department of State, which threatened to blacklist Egypt, accusing it for the third time of not doing enough to combat the international crime.A report that was carried by islamonline.net, said that the report is the only document that gives Egypt and 16 Arab countries knowledge about the tragedy that continues to unfold on their land. The article argued that it was the report rather than a belief in the need for reform that urges Arab countries to take action. As a reaction to the US Department of State's claims and threats, Egyptian officials accused the report of being politically motivated and a poor reflection of the reality in either Egypt and the region. Some also pointed fingers at the US and Western Europe as the biggest markets for the illegal trade, in spite of their claims to be human rights watchdogs. The American double standards with regard to the issue in Iraq was also severely criticized in this context. Transit or source?While Egyptian officials continue to categorize Egypt as a transit country for human traffickers, international organizations tend to consider it both a transit and a source although no evidence has emerged to indicate serious involvement in major export operations. "So far Egypt's file at the Interpol is clean of any significant cross border operations where the locals are used as an asset by international criminal groups, Dr Fadya Abu Shahba, a criminology specialist at the National Center for Social and Criminological Research, told Daily News Egypt.Social experts say the 'commercial' temporary marriages, in which many rural girls are married off to wealthy Arabs from Gulf countries, have caused critics to level accusations of Egypt being an exporter."True this is a sort of legal practice whereby many villagers sold off their daughters to rich Gulf suitors over the past few decades, explained Abu Shaba. She added: "But the practice has widely spread owing to increased poverty levels; so much so that entire villages are becoming notorious for arranging such marriages that now take place with parents' consent. Abu Shahba, who is conducting a major study on the trafficking of children, pointed out that all forms of child abuse like child labor, sexual exploitation and the sale of kids for the purposes of servitude and adoption are still restricted to local terrain. "But most people are ignorant of the fact that these are types of trade in humans; there is concern that, if not properly contained, such practices will spill over and become part of the ambition of the human traffickers lurking on borders. Egyptian borders and organized crimeSo far it has been difficult to make the link between human trafficking-type crimes and international organized crime.However, the less stringently-monitored borders in Sinai have made analysts question whether the absence of control on some points will eventually usher in cooperation between local slavery dealers and the international criminal groups.The series of explosions targeting tourist resorts in Sinai in July 2005, where Egyptian Bedouins were implicated, have, according to foreign press reports, alerted Egyptians for the first time on the security role Bedouins can play with their meticulous knowledge of the desert's accesses and exits.The same delivery methods that were used to deliver explosives could also be used in other illegal activities such as human trafficking, said one report. With the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) citing Israel as one of the top destinations for forced labor and sexual exploitation, it is understandable why a multi-million dollar business between Egypt and Israel involving women from Eastern Europe should thrive through Sinai and the Negev Desert. Also the economies of the Gulf states that largely rely on foreign labor have provided scope for the same type of white slavery based on Eastern European women making the region a hotbed for this type of smuggling operations.But what is the role of the government? "At some point governments would fail to track down such major violations because many of the related offences and operations are carried out behind closed doors, one official from the UNODC, Cairo told Daily News Egypt, on condition of anonymity."International cooperation is the key, stressed the official, adding that "international criminal groups take advantage of the network that connects them as well as the different legislations addressing the issue in every country to facilitate the illegal trade. Regrettably, the tools of international cooperation aren't available in the same degree in each country. Human trafficking and local rights organizationsLocal and foreign Egypt-based human rights organizations dealing with illegal immigrants and refugees seem to be less concerned about human trafficking. Ramy Raouf, the media officer at The Cairo Center for Human Right Studies, told Daily News Egypt that no cases of human trafficking involving Egyptians has come to the center's attention because the center is preoccupied with other local problems relating to human rights. "Only once we organized a series of lectures to illuminate the interested groups on the subject, said Raouf.Many incidents related to the infiltration of Sudanese, Ethiopian and Eritrean nationals across the border to Israel have been reported with none of them highlighting the role of smugglers. "We have to differentiate between human trafficking and the smuggling of refugees, remarked Michael Kagan, senior fellow in human rights law at the American University in Cairo. "None of the refugees who arrive in our offices recount incidents where they were involved in human trafficking. Most of them use the services of people who drive them across the borders for certain amounts of money. But there might be cases that we know nothing about, explained Kagan.Echoing a similar view, the UN official explained that illegal immigration for any purpose, be it work or political asylum, can't be categorized as a form of human trafficking. "In human trafficking the victims are forced to commit a certain act against their own free will, which isn't the case with the immigrants, he said.
