PROTECTION
Government efforts to protect trafficking victims remained weak. While the authorities did not report the total number of potential victims identified in 2014, the victim and witness protection program for individuals participating in penal processes (SPAVT) supported 66 victims of trafficking; most were sex trafficking victims. This is a significant decrease from 2013, when police reported identifying 450 potential trafficking victims. Authorities removed children from sites of commercial sexual exploitation, but did not systematically apply procedures to identify adult victims among vulnerable populations, such as women in prostitution. Officials reported difficulty in accessing areas where forced labor possibly occurs, particularly in agriculture. Victim referrals from many officials were often ad hoc.
Services for trafficking victims remained limited. SPAVT assisted 66 trafficking victims and six dependents in 2014, providing 45 percent with food and emergency shelter, 31 percent with referrals to temporary shelter with NGOs, and 74 percent with referrals to government entities for general health and education services. This program spent approximately $156,000 on food

and lodging for these victims and their dependents between January and September 2014. The Ministry of Economic and Social Inclusion operated one shelter for girls in commercial sexual exploitation but did not report how many victims it assisted in 2014. Authorities provided an undisclosed amount of funding to NGOs caring for child victims of sex and labor trafficking. One shelter for child victims of labor trafficking and other abuse reported receiving approximately 60 percent of its funds from the government, while another NGO received irregular funding from SPAVT for food and accommodation for 25 girl victims of sexual and labor exploitation. In some parts of the country, there were no facilities to house rescued victims. The national government funded no specialized services for adult trafficking victims in 2014 and provided few psycho-social, reintegration, or legal services. Officials assisted in the repatriation of eight Ecuadorian child trafficking victims. Authorities issued a resolution in 2014, granting trafficking victims up to 30 days of reflection to allow them to receive SPAVT protection while deciding if they want to participate in the penal process against their traffickers. Many victims chose not to participate in investigations due to fear of threats, inadequate protections in the witness protection program, or lack of faith in the judicial system.The new penal code states victims are not punishable for the commission of offenses that are the direct result of being subjected to human trafficking. NGOs reported some potential victims may have been deported without being screened for trafficking indicators. Some officials did not respect the confidentiality of trafficking victims and released personal information to the public.There were no specific legal alternatives for foreign victims facing removal to countries in which victims would face hardship or retribution. Authorities reported they could grant temporary or permanent residency to foreign victims, but did not report how many foreign victims received residency in 2014. NGOs reported some eligible victims were not granted residency, and some foreign victims with irregular migratory statuses had difficulties accessing government-provided services.

PREVENTION
The government sustained prevention efforts.The Ministry of the Interior anti-trafficking sub-directorate coordinated anti-trafficking efforts, although civil society organizations continued to note a lack of coordination between government actors.The government did not finalize a new anti-trafficking action plan, resulting in inadequate funding to conduct anti-trafficking efforts. Authorities conducted awareness campaigns. A provincial government provided some funding to an NGO to conduct prevention activities. The new penal code prohibits sex tourism, but there were no reports of investigations, prosecutions, or convictions of child sex tourists in 2014. The government took actions to reduce the demand for commercial sex acts involving children, including in tourist areas, but did not report efforts targeting the demand for forced labor. The government provided anti-trafficking training or guidance for its diplomatic personnel.

EGYPT: Tier 2 Watch List 
Egypt is a source, transit, and destination country for men, women, and children subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking. Egyptian children, including those among the estimated 200,000 to one million street children, are vulnerable to sex trafficking and forced labor in domestic service, begging, and agricultural work. Individuals from the Gulf, including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates,

and Kuwait, purchase Egyptian women and girls for “temporary” or “summer” marriages for the purpose of prostitution or forced labor; these arrangements are often facilitated by the victims’ parents and marriage brokers, who profit from the transaction. Child sex tourism occurs primarily in Cairo, Alexandria, and Luxor. In 2011, the government’s National Center for Social and Criminological Research found 40 percent of women in jail charged with crimes of prostitution had been forced or coerced into prostitution. An international organization reported in 2013 some Egyptian women were subjected to sex trafficking in Sri Lanka. Egyptian men are subjected to forced labor in construction, agriculture, and low-paying service jobs in neighboring countries. Syrian refugees who have settled in Egypt are increasingly vulnerable to trafficking.
Men and women from South and Southeast Asia and East Africa are subjected to forced labor in domestic service, construction, cleaning, and begging. Indonesians make up the largest number of foreign domestic workers in Egypt, though there has been an observed increase in Sri Lankan domestic workers. Employers use some domestic workers’ lack of legal status and employment contracts to threaten arrest and abuse if they escape or complain of poor conditions. Women and girls, including refugees and migrants, from Asia, sub-Saharan Africa, and the Middle East endure sex trafficking in Egypt. From 2011 to 2013, instances of human trafficking, smuggling, abduction, and extortion of African migrants in the Sinai Peninsula occurred at the hands of criminal groups; many of these migrants were forced into sexual servitude or forced labor during their captivity in the Sinai. However, since mid-2013, international organizations observed the flow of these migrants into the Sinai nearly ceased, due in part to an aggressive Egyptian military campaign. Anecdotal reports suggest these criminal groups have relocated from the Sinai to Egypt’s western border with Libya; these migrants remain vulnerable to the same abuses inflicted upon them in the Sinai, including trafficking.
The Government of Egypt does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so. Despite these measures, the government did not demonstrate overall increasing anti- trafficking efforts compared to the previous reporting period; therefore, Egypt is placed on Tier 2 Watch List. For the first time, the government conducted a nationwide data call to district courts to gather information on trafficking cases from the last five years to properly allocate training and prioritize trafficking efforts. In addition, the national anti-trafficking hotline call center was operational and its services were expanded. The Egyptian president also publicly acknowledged the vulnerability of Egyptian street children to trafficking and announced the allocation of approximately 100 million Egyptian pounds ($14 million) to address this issue. However, the government did not adequately address the needs of foreign trafficking victims and focused primarily on Egyptian victims. Moreover, it did not provide some shelter services to foreign trafficking victims in 2014. Though the government continued to partner with NGOs and international organizations to identify and refer victims to protective services, it identified a smaller number of trafficking victims in 2014, continuing the decrease from the previous reporting period. Reports indicated many officials—particularly those outside of city centers—failed to systematically identify victims among vulnerable groups, and the government had no procedures to do so. As a result, victims were routinely treated as criminals and punished for unlawful acts committed as a direct result of being subjected to human trafficking.The government prosecuted some traffickers in 2014