VZCZCXRO7114
PP RUEHROV
DE RUEHEG #3031/01 2841603
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 111603Z OCT 07
FM AMEMBASSY CAIRO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 7176
INFO RUEHXK/ARAB ISRAELI COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 CAIRO 003031 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
SENSITIVE 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR NEA/ELA, G/TIP 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL KCRM KWMN EG
SUBJECT: EGYPT: SIGNS OF STRONGER EFFORTS ON TIP 
 
REF: CAIRO 2536 
 
Sensitive but unclassified, please protect accordingly. 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary:  A new inter-ministerial committee on 
Trafficking In Persons (TIP), a proposed new child protection 
law with anti-TIP provisions, and a nascent public awareness 
campaign are signs that the GOE is moving towards awareness 
of, and eventually action on, TIP.  Continued challenges will 
be developing more comprehensive anti-TIP legislation; a 
common perception of TIP as a cross-border, rather than 
internal Egyptian, problem; and arrests and prosecutions.  We 
are also seeking opportunities to assist the GOE on public 
awareness and training for law enforcers and prosecutors. 
End summary. 
 
First Meeting for TIP Committee 
------------------------------- 
 
¶2. (SBU) The "National Committee to Combat and Prevent 
Trafficking in Persons", created by Prime Ministerial decree 
on July 15 (reftel), will meet for the first time on October 
17 and be chaired by the MFA Assistant Minister for 
Multilateral Relations Naela Gabr.  Praising the creation of 
the committee, the DCM on October 10 emphasized to Wael Aboul 
Magd, MFA Deputy Assistant Minister for Human Rights and the 
MFA's lead on TIP, the importance of moving quickly to 
increase arrests and prosecutions of traffickers, with the 
understanding that the GOE currently lacks a comprehensive 
anti-TIP law.  The DCM encouraged quick action to develop new 
legislation, and to gather statistics on TIP cases in Egypt 
to better understand and address the problem.  Aboul Magd 
described the new committee as a significant step towards 
increasing GOE activism on TIP, opining that the Prime 
Minister's involvement and the a-political nature of the 
topic will allow the GOE interagency machine to work as 
quickly as possible on this problem. 
 
¶3. (SBU) Aboul Magd said that the committee will focus on 
three simultaneous tracks: implementation of already existent 
anti-TIP provisions; legislating new anti-TIP laws; and 
increasing public awareness of the nature and importance of 
TIP.  Aboul Magd highlighted that public awareness and 
education of TIP is one of the committee's biggest 
challenges.  He noted that, while the GOE and USG are in 
agreement on the importance of making progress in combating 
TIP, the GOE nevertheless would not be driven by Washington's 
timetable for producing the yearly TIP report. 
 
New Child Protection Law 
------------------------ 
 
¶4. (SBU) The National Council for Childhood and Motherhood 
(NCCM) is putting the finishing touches on a new child 
protection law, developed with input from a broad range of 
Egyptian and international experts, that strengthens and 
broadens Egypt's anti-TIP legislation in regards to children. 
 At NCCM request, emboffs and Justice Attache have been 
consulting on the law and pressing for anti-TIP provisions. 
The law notes specifically that "the child shall be protected 
against trafficking, sexual harassment, exploitation, sexual, 
emotional, and physical abuse."  For example, it specifically 
delineates a penalty of at least five years in prison and a 
fine of at least LE 50,000 (USD 8,993) for any who "present 
for purchasing, receive, or deliver a child in order to be 
treated as a slave or with the intention of usage in unlawful 
commercial or sexual exploitation or any other illegitimate 
purposes."  A new section on child labor forbids children 
working under age 15, or being trained under age 13, and lays 
out humane working conditions.  Those in violation are 
subject to fines beginning at LE 200 (USD 36), doubling for 
each violation, and any who "endanger the life of a child," 
which includes exposing a child to "abuse, violence, 
exploitation, or displacement," incurs a sentence of at least 
three months in prison.  The new law increases the minimum 
age of marriage for girls from 16 to 18, and the age of 
consent is already defined to be 18. 
 
¶5. (SBU) NCCM head Ambassador Moushira Khattab told the DCM 
on October 8 that the NCCM would present this new law to 
parliament when it reconvenes in November, and that she 
expects the law to be passed this year.  She expects little 
resistance to most of the law's provisions.  However, she 
noted that implementation, particularly on child labor, will 
be an issue, as in fact current Egyptian law already contains 
provisions against child labor.  The problem, she said, is 
that many feel that restricting children's ability to work 
limits the income available to Egypt's poor families, who 
need as much extra income as possible from every capable 
family member.  Khattab noted as well that, while there is 
 
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almost universal agreement in Egypt that TIP is a problem 
across borders, the public, police, prosecuting, and 
legislative community is not yet sensitized to the fact that 
TIP is an internal Egyptian problem as well. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶6. (SBU) The inter-ministerial committee, draft legislation, 
and nascent public awareness efforts are signs that the GOE 
is moving towards awareness of, and eventually action on, 
TIP.  We note that the Egyptian focus on TIP continues to be 
on a cross-borders problem, and it will take time to educate 
the Egyptian public, law enforcers, prosecutors, and 
law-makers on the importance of addressing TIP within Egypt. 
JONES