The United Nations special rapporteur on Trafficking in Persons, especially women and children, Joy Ngozi Ezeilo, has commended the Egyptian Government for accelerating its efforts in the fight against trafficking in persons.
She however noted that some of the challenges remain to be addressed in order to protect and respect the human rights of trafficked persons. This is coming on the heels of the controversy that surrounds the marriage of a Nigerian legislature to a thirteen year old Egyptian girl. Ms. Ezeilo was speaking at the end of her 11-day fact-finding mission to Egypt, which was conducted at the invitation of the government.
The Special Rapporteur identified common forms of trafficking in persons in Egypt to include trafficking for the purposes of sexual exploitation of under aged girls through “seasonal / temporary” marriage, child labour, domestic servitude, other forms of sexual exploitation and prostitution.
She also stated that there are indications that trafficking for forced marriages, forced labour, transplantation of human organs and body tissues may be much more than current estimates, adding that the incidence of internal trafficking is much higher than transnational trafficking and the prevalence of street children increases their vulnerability to child trafficking.
Nigerian civil organization have called for Mr. Yerima to be investigated for trafficking having alledgedly paying a whopping sum of $100,000 as bride price for the girl. The group claims that the payment of such a huge sum as bride price is unrealistic and it amounts to forced child trafficking.
Ms. Ezeilo recommended that the government should provide comprehensive training programmes to enhance knowledge and awareness of human trafficking for the police, immigration/border guards, prosecutors and judiciary and civil society organizations, including the media on effective reporting and messages on trafficking in persons. The government was also encouraged to set-up a holistic and integrative national plan of action on combating trafficking in persons, which clearly sets out strategic objectives.
UN urges Egypt to intensify efforts at combating human trafficking
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