Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt - 12 March 2018 - The National Coordinating Committee on Preventing and Combating Human Trafficking and Migrant Smuggling, the International Cooperation and Human Rights Division in the Office of the Egyptian Prosecutor General and UNODC, under the framework of GLO.ACT, organized the seventh workshop, training 20 national prosecutors from different governorates across the canal region on migrant smuggling.
Egypt is a source, transit, and destination country for trafficking in persons (TIP) and the smuggling of migrants (SOM). In 2016, Egypt adopted Law No. 82/2016 on Combating Illegal Migration and the Smuggling of Migrants, which merged the National Coordinating Committee for Combating and Preventing Illegal Migration and the National Coordinating Committee for Combating and Preventing Trafficking in Persons (NCCPIM & TIP). Together with Law no. 64 of 2010 on TIP, Egypt now has a comprehensive legal framework to combat TIP and SOM.
UNODC supports the implementation of the legal framework through a series of training workshops for police officers, prosecutors and judges to strengthen national capacity to investigate, prosecute and adjudicate crimes of human trafficking and migrant smuggling. The workshop held in Sharm El Sheikh is the seventh workshop in the series taking place across different regions in Egypt.
The four-day workshop covered a broad range of topics, such as:
During his opening speech, Mr. Mohamed Ezzat, Chief Prosecutor in the International Cooperation and Human Rights Division in the Office of the Egyptian Prosecutor General, praised UNODC efforts to counter all types of organized crime, especially TIP and SOM. He also thanked the EU for their support in tackling SOM and said that his office was looking forward to even more cooperation in the future. Also addressing the workshop participants, Mr. Khaled El Nakkady, Senior Coordinator at the National Coordinating Committee on Preventing and Combating Human Trafficking and Migrant Smuggling, thanked UNODC for delivering and coordinating such workshops and commented positively about the training model the organization uses to deliver the workshops. He reaffirmed Egypt's commitment to extend its strategic cooperation with all donors and international organizations.
Upon the conclusion of the workshop, the participating national prosecutors were encouraged to provided feedback. Many commented on the excellent quality of the experts and trainers that delivered the training. Others explained that being able to discuss the issue of SOM in this setting helped them realize that they had indeed encountered SOM cases in the past. The prosecutors now feel capable of applying the new legal framework when considering such cases. These renewed insights also formed the basis of some very interesting discussions around the possible application of the law in the future.
The Global Action to Prevent and Address Trafficking in Persons and the Smuggling of Migrants (GLO.ACT) is a four-year (2015-2019), €11 million joint initiative by the European Union (EU) and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). The project is being implemented in partnership with the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). GLO.ACT aims to provide assistance to governmental authorities and civil society organizations across 13 strategically selected countries: Belarus, Brazil, Colombia, Egypt, Kyrgyz Republic, Lao PDR, Mali, Morocco, Nepal, Niger, Pakistan, South Africa, Ukraine. GLO.ACT works with the 13 countries to plan and implement strategic national counter-trafficking and counter smuggling efforts through a prevention, protection, prosecution, and partnerships approach. It supports the development of more effective responses to trafficking and smuggling, including providing assistance to victims of trafficking and vulnerable migrants through the strengthening of identification, referral, and direct support mechanisms.
For more information, please contact:
Mr. Faisal Hegazy
GLO.ACT National Programme Officer
faisal.hegazy@unodc.org
www.unodc.org/unodc/en/human-trafficking/glo-act/
Email: glo.act@un.org
Twitter: @glo_act