Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2014, published 104th ILC session (2015)

Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182) - Egypt (Ratification: 2002)

Articles 3(a) and 7(2)(a) and (b) of the Convention. Sale and trafficking of children and effective and time-bound measures to prevent the engagement of children in, and to remove them from, trafficking and ensure their rehabilitation and social integration. The Committee previously noted from the report of the UN Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially women and children, that trafficking in persons in Egypt often includes trafficking for the purposes of sexual exploitation of underaged girls through “seasonal” or “temporary” marriage, child labour, domestic servitude and other forms of sexual exploitation and prostitution. It requested the Government to redouble its efforts to prevent and eliminate the trafficking of children.

The Committee notes the Government’s information that the National Council for Children and Motherhood (NCCM) established a special unit to combat trafficking in children (TIC unit). The TIC unit provides training for women and girls on income-generating occupations as an approach to combat poverty and thereby putting an end to the practice of “seasonal or temporary marriage” transactions. The Government’s report also indicates that the unit organized 79 training courses for law enforcement officials, NGOs and other social and health services to deal with victims of trafficking and conducted several awareness-raising campaigns against the risks of marriage transactions. According to a report of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) of July 2011, a training workshop was conducted for 30 Egyptian police officers on the modules of UNODC Anti-Human Trafficking Manual for Criminal Justice Practitioners and aimed at strengthening the capacity of police officers both as first responders as well as investigators of human trafficking cases.

The Committee also notes the Government’s information that the TIC unit, in collaboration with the International Organization for Migration (IOM) established a centre for the rehabilitation of child victims of trafficking in the city of El Salam which provides secure, transitional accommodation, medical and legal assistance as well as assistance for their return and reintegration. The Committee further notes from the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) report for the World Trade Organization General Council review of the trade policies of Egypt that the Government of Egypt made efforts to fight the crime of exploiting young girls through “temporary marriages” and investigated 50 cases and convicted 29 offenders in 2010. The Committee notes, however, that the Research Project to study Trafficking Patterns in Egyptian Society conducted by the National Centre for Social and Criminological Research (NCSCR study report) identified the most prevailing forms of human trafficking in Egypt as the trafficking of children for labour and sexual exploitation, and trafficking of street children for sexual exploitation and begging.

While noting the measures taken by the Government, the Committee expresses its concern that the trafficking of children for labour and sexual exploitation remains a serious problem in practice. The Committee, therefore, urges the Government to take immediate and effective measures to combat and eliminate the trafficking of children under 18 years of age and to ensure the rehabilitation and social integration of all child victims of trafficking. It requests the Government to provide information on the concrete measures taken in this regard and on the results achieved in terms of the number of children removed from this worst form of child labour and their subsequent rehabilitation and social integration.

Article 3(b). Use, procuring or offering of a child for prostitution. The Committee previously urged the Government to ensure that child victims of prostitution are treated as victims rather than offenders.

The Committee notes the Government’s reference to section 101 of the Child Law, which states that a child under the age of 15 years who has committed a crime shall be subject to the following sanctions: reprimand; handing a child over; following a course of training and rehabilitation; carrying out specific duties; judicial testing; working for the public interest which are not hazardous; placement at one of the specialized hospitals or at the social welfare institutions. The Committee notes that although section 111 of the Child Law prohibits handing down criminal sentences amounting to the death sentence, life imprisonment or hard labour to children under 18 years of age, it provides for a reduced sentence of imprisonment for three months or to the measures stated in section 101 for children of 15 years or over. In this regard, the Committee notes the information provided by the Egyptian delegation at the 57th Session of the Committee on the Rights of the Child, held on 6 June 2011, that Egyptian law prohibited handing down criminal sentences to children and instead favoured educational and preventive measures. The delegation further stated that as of January 2011, no children had been sentenced to imprisonment.

The Committee, however, notes that the Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) in its concluding observations under the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography of July 2011, noted with particular concern the information provided by the Egyptian delegation that children over 15 years of age who enter into prostitution on their own free will are held responsible under domestic legislation which criminalizes prostitution (CRC/C/OPSC/EGY/CO/1, paragraph 35). In this regard, the Committee must emphasize that children under the age of 18 years who are used, procured or offered for prostitution should be treated as victims and not as offenders (see the 2012 General Survey on the fundamental Conventions, paragraph 510). The Committee, therefore, again urges the Government to take the necessary measures to ensure that all child victims of prostitution who are under the age of 18 years are treated as victims rather than offenders.

Article 7(2). Effective and time-bound measures. Clause (d). Identifying and reaching out to children at special risk. Street children. The Committee previously noted the information by UNICEF estimating that there were some 1 million street children in Egypt. The Committee urged the Government to redouble its efforts to ensure that children under 18 years living and working on the streets are protected from the worst forms of child labour, particularly trafficking, commercial sexual exploitation and begging.

The Committee notes that the Government’s report does not contain any information on the measures taken to protect street children from the worst forms of child labour. The Committee notes, however, that according to the 2011 NCSCR study report, at least 20 per cent of street children, most of whom are in the age group of 6 to 11 years, are victims of trafficking who are exploited by a third party for sexual purposes and for begging. Almost 40 per cent of the street children did not commence formal education, while 60 per cent acquired minimum education through primary and preparatory education. Recalling that street children are particularly exposed to the worst forms of child labour, the Committee again urges the Government to strengthen its efforts to ensure that children under 18 years living and working on the streets are protected from the worst forms of child labour, particularly trafficking, commercial sexual exploitation and begging. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the concrete measures taken in this regard and on the results achieved.

The Committee is raising other matters in a request addressed directly to the Government.