CAIRO: After a four-month long investigation, police forces were able to track down and arrest all parties involved in the trafficking of newborn babies from Egypt to the United States. News of the arrest was first announced on primetime television show,"El Beit Beitak, which airs on the state-run terrestrial Channel 2. Even though Egyptian police and the US embassy have been looking into the case since last November, news of the child trafficking network, whereby newborns are illegally sold and smuggled outside the country, was first disclosed by the media in mid-January. At the time, an American woman was arrested when she went to the US embassy to issue a passport for a newborn baby she claimed was hers. "The Egyptian police highly appreciate the US embassy's efforts in tracking down and arresting the entire network involved in the process, said "El Beit Beitak host Tamer Amin. "It is a very sophisticated network in which more than 10 parties are involved, including doctors, nurses, agents and an orphanage manager, explained Amin. According to reports, doctors and nurses used to buy newborns from their biological parents then sell them, through agents and with forged documents, to American couples for over LE 8,000 for girls and LE 14,000 for boys. The American couple, or in some cases, the agent, then takes the baby to the US embassy to issue an American passport, claiming that they have recently given birth to the baby in Egypt but want to take it back to the US. The babies are generally illegitimate children who were born out of wedlock. Child trafficking from Egypt to the US has been practiced since 2002; however, the perpetrator would have simply been penalized for forging official documents. But the amendments to the Child Law in June 2008 have criminalized the practice, making it punishable by jail sentences. Media personalities, such as Amin and Amr Adib, highlighted religion as a major concern. "The child could have been born a Muslim but is instead raised with a Christian American family, Adib said on his popular show "Al-Qahira Al-Youm. "Just as they have cooperated with us in finding the child trafficking network, the US should cooperate with us in tracking down the children which have been smuggled into the US during the past few years so we could take them back and raise them here in their country, said Amin. Another ongoing debate also questions the childrens best interest and whether it is better for them to be brought up in the US, where they can become active members of society rather than growing up in Egypt, a society which looks down on illegitimate children.
