Cairo, Egypt – 5 December 2022

The European Union (EU) in cooperation with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has supported the Egyptian Ministry of Interior with equipment to enhance the capacity of first line and second line officers in detecting fraudulent documents related to cases of human trafficking and migrant smuggling. The provision of the equipment is in the framework of the regional EU funded project “Dismantling human trafficking and migrant smuggling criminal networks in North Africa” implemented by UNODC.

The provision of equipment is further complemented by capacity building activities aimed at strengthening first responders in identifying and investigating cases of migrant smuggling and human trafficking while protecting trafficking victims and vulnerable migrants.

Through the project, UNODC in partnership with the European Union and the Egyptian Government, builds on its long partnership with Egypt to strengthen the country’s holistic response to human trafficking and migrant smuggling by dismantling the criminal networks involved in these crimes.

Background:

This activity supports the implementation of article 11 of both the Trafficking in Persons Protocol and the Smuggling of Migrants Protocol, in which state parties are required to strengthen border controls. The protocols are two of three protocols supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime. Egypt ratified the Convention and its supplementary protocols in 2004.