Egypt plays active role in the international community in its continuous efforts to combat the crimes of human trafficking and illegal migration, Naela Gabr, Chairperson of the National Coordinating Committee to Combat and Prevent Illegal Migration and Trafficking in Persons (NCCPIM&TIP), has affirmed.
This came in a speech delivered by Gabr during the opening session of the Regional Conference on International Cooperation in Criminal Matters related to the Investigation and Prosecution of Human Trafficking and Smuggling of Migrants in Sharm El-Sheik, in which representatives from 20 countries participated. Gabr said that Egypt has been keen to join the relevant international instruments, the most important of which is the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime.
It also acceded to the protocol to suppress, prevent and punish Trafficking in persons, especially women and children, in 2003 and the protocol against the smuggling of migrants by land, sea and air in 2005″.
This is in addition to ILO Conventions on forced labor No. 29, on the abolition of forced labor No. 105, and on the Prohibition of the worst forms of child labor No. 182.
She added that at the national level, Egypt has sought to eliminate both crimes by launching an effective legal framework consisting of the 2014 constitution, a law on combating human trafficking, the law related to the Child Law and the law on Combating Illegal Immigration and smuggling of migrants.
“In this context, Egypt has adopted a comprehensive national approach based on cooperation and coordination between relevant national entities through the implementation of the third national strategy to combat and prevent human trafficking in 2022-2026 and the national strategy to combat illegal migration in 2016-2026,” Gabr said.
Head of the Anti-Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Unit, Ahmed Saeed Khalil, said that human trafficking and smuggling of migrants crimes in the world are among the most organized crime committed by organized criminal groups, and their activities are generating huge profits for those groups estimated at billions of dollars.
He underscored the need to take all necessary measures to combat human trafficking and the smuggling of migrants, two of the most organized crimes committed by organized criminal groups that generate revenues.
He pointed out that human trafficking is one of the most lucrative organized crimes, and that the US State Department report on human trafficking issued in 2022 estimated that these crimes generate $150bn in illegal profits for the perpetrators of these crimes and those who facilitate them; Criminals often hide and wash their revenues.
