VZCZCXYZ0000
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHEG #1738/01 1581543
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 071543Z JUN 07
FM AMEMBASSY CAIRO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 5584
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC

UNCLAS CAIRO 001738 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR NEA/ELA AND NEA/RA 
TREASURY FOR HIRSON AND GLASER 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECON EFIN PREL KPAL IS EG
SUBJECT: UPDATE ON CUSTOMS ISSUES AT RAFAH BORDER 
 
REF: CAIRO 1737 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Summary:  Emboffs met on May 31 with Egyptian 
officials at the Rafah border.  The officials indicated that 
the border opens only infrequently, taxing border staff's 
ability to process the large number of travelers attempting 
to cross during these short openings.  Gazans who cross 
during a short opening of the border often end up spending 
several days in Egypt, waiting for the next opening to return 
to Gaza.  Movement of commercial goods remains an unrealized 
goal, although individuals often carry several large bags 
across the border, the contents of which may be used for 
commercial purposes.  Travelers are required to fill out 
Customs declaration forms, and disclose any amount of 
currency over USD 10,000.  A traveler not carry any currency 
into Egypt is only allowed to carry out a maximum of USD 
3,000.  Egyptian officials indicated that they had not seen 
any travelers carrying large amounts of cash across the 
border in several months.  Representatives of the EU Border 
Assistance Mission (BAM) echoed these statements and 
indicated that Palestinian officials on the Gaza side of the 
border handling processing during border openings relatively 
well.  End summary. 
 
¶2.  (U) On May 31 Econoff and Treasury Attache met with 
Colonel Ashraf el-Eweny, an Egyptian border official with the 
military intelligence branch LAWIO (Liaison With 
International Organizations) at the Rafah border crossing to 
discuss current issues at the border.  Ashraf noted that 
given the continued periodic violence in Gaza, the border is 
open infrequently, and news of an opening is broadcast in 
Gaza the day before to alert those who need to cross.  He 
estimated that the border was open on average roughly twice a 
week for a few hours each time.  The infrequent and 
unpredictable openings lead to a strong surge of travelers 
when the border does open and Ashraf noted that several 
thousand travelers may cross on a day when the border is 
open, heavily taxing the capacity of the border staff to 
process them efficiently.  Ashraf did note that the passenger 
terminal is open around the clock so that it can be ready to 
process people if the Palestinian side opens on short notice. 
 Due to the short openings of the border, travelers usually 
try to cross into Egypt and back into Gaza in one trip.  If 
travelers are not able to cross back into Gaza on the same 
day, however, they can remain stuck on the Egyptian side of 
the border for several days before another opening allows 
them to cross back into Gaza.  Numerous crossers also end up 
staying in tents in the Philadelphi corridor, the strip of 
land in between the Egyptian side of the border and the Gaza 
side of the border.  Those who find themselves in this area 
have usually exited Egypt but been denied re-entry into Gaza. 
 
¶3.  (U) Commercial movement of goods, as envisioned in the 
Agreement on Movement and Access document, remains an 
unrealized ideal.  Individuals are allowed to bring 2-3 large 
bags across, much of which likely does contain items for 
commercial purposes (reftel).  Customs officials are 
authorized to search all travelers and their possessions, and 
periodically confiscate smuggled goods such as tobacco or 
ammunition.  Customs officials told Emboffs that Palestinian 
travelers are required to fill out a Customs declaration form 
that asks if they are carrying more than USD 10,000 in 
currency.  This is true for all travelers entering all 
airports, seaports and land crossing into Egypt.  Egyptian 
law does not allow for confiscation of sums over USD 10,000, 
provided the currency is declared, but those travelers 
carrying more than USD 10,000 into Egypt are not allowed to 
carry more than that amount out of Egypt when returning to 
Gaza, unless it can be documented that it was obtained 
legally. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) According to Customs officials, many travelers 
cross the border with no currency at all.  In these cases, 
Customs authorities, following a special procedure specific 
to the Rafah border, only permit travelers to carry USD 3,000 
back across the border.  Sums larger than USD 3,000 are 
confiscated, and the cash turned over to the judicial system 
for processing.  Travelers can attempt to get their cash back 
through the legal system, but the money ends up transferred 
to the Ministry of Finance if the traveler is unsuccessful. 
Although they could not provide specific quantities, Customs 
officials indicated that they have not seen large amounts of 
money crossing the border in the last several months. 
Colonel El-Eweny added that no PA officials have crossed the 
border since PA PM Haniyeh attempt to cross the border four 
months ago.  When asked about procedures in the event that 
they noticed suspicious behavior, the Customs officials 
indicated that they conducted secondary searches and filled 
out reports which were sent to Customs authorities in Cairo. 
They did not know how/if such reports were received or 
processed by the Central Bank's Money Laundering Combating 
Unit. 
 
¶5.  (SBU) Representatives from the EU Border Assistance 
Mission told Econoff that Palestinian authorities on the Gaza 
side of the border are operating relatively well.  The BAM 
reps echoed Colonel El-Eweny's statements, indicating that 
they have not recently seen any travelers carrying large 
amounts of cash coming across the border. 
RICCIARDONE