VZCZCXYZ0001
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHEG #1566 2061200
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 241200Z JUL 08
FM AMEMBASSY CAIRO
TO SECSTATE WASHDC 9924

UNCLAS CAIRO 001566 
 
SIPDIS 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL KWMN KCRM PHUM SMIG EG
SUBJECT: EGYPT: REACTION TO TIP TIER 2 WATCH LIST ACTION 
PLAN 
 
REF: SECSTATE 75360 
 
Sensitive but unclassified, not for Internet distribution. 
 
¶1. (SBU) On July 22 we delivered reftel 
trafficking-in-persons (TIP) action plan to MFA Deputy 
Assistant Minister for Human Rights Wael Aboulmagd, 
emphasizing that the GOE needs to make measurable progress in 
victim protection and in prosecutions of, and a comprehensive 
legal framework to prosecute, traffickers in order for us to 
raise Egypt from the Tier 2 Watch List in the 2009 TIP 
report.  Aboulmagd said that "we have the same goals" and 
affirmed Egypt's commitment to fighting TIP, noting that the 
GOE inter-ministerial anti-TIP committee - which the MFA 
chairs - has a draft comprehensive anti-TIP law that it will 
begin discussing throughout the GOE interagency "soon" before 
presenting it to parliament in the future.  (Note: The next 
parliamentary session begins in November.  End note.)  He 
noted that the draft law, which draws from similar 
legislation in other countries and international models, lays 
out not only punishments for traffickers but also specifies 
how victims of trafficking should be protected.  He added 
that Egypt currently lacks NGOs and victim service centers 
focused on victims of TIP.  Aboulmagd claimed that experts at 
that Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies 
(SAIS) Protection Project said the draft is "as close to 
perfect as possible." 
 
¶2. (SBU) However, Aboulmagd emphasized that the GOE will not 
gear its efforts to the timetable of the USG's TIP report. 
He said that Egypt is spending a "disproportionate" amount of 
time on TIP in comparison to "more urgent" human rights 
issues, such as freedom of expression and women's rights, 
particularly given that Egypt "likely does not have a big 
problem" in comparison to other developing countries.  He 
noted that the U.S. TIP criteria "is not universal," and that 
some in the Egyptian public are accusing the GOE being 
beholden to a "western-driven agenda" on TIP.  He re-affirmed 
that the GOE will continue its anti-TIP efforts and would 
like to move off of the Tier 2 Watch List, but said that 
"this is not a priority for us." 
 
¶3. (SBU) Comment: Anti-TIP momentum is building in Egypt, and 
our efforts to provide anti-TIP training for police officers 
through the International Organization for Migration (IOM), 
for prosecutors through the International Center for Missing 
and Exploited Children (ICMEC), and for Egyptian interagency 
TIP officials through a State Department International 
Visitor Program (IVP) have been well-received and have 
sparked further interest.  It remains to be seen, however, if 
the GOE can build upon this momentum to make substantive 
improvements in its anti-TIP legal framework and 
victim-protection regime. 
SCOBEY