British embassy to train judges on combating smuggling

CAIRO – 6 February 2018: The British embassy in Cairo will hold workshops for 49 Egyptian judges in cooperation with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

The UK-funded workshops will take place in Aswan, aiming to boost judges’ capacity to prevent smuggling and trafficking in order to “effectively prevent, investigate, prosecute and adjudicate cases of smuggling and trafficking in persons.”

Moreover, the embassy has also held more than 10 workshops across the country in the same regard so far, involving 237 prosecutors and police officers, according to the statement.

“The UK is proud to allocate EGP 11.7 million ($663,000) to assist the Egyptian government in implementing its new anti-smuggling strategy and law. This is part of our core belief that Egyptians shouldn’t have to risk their lives to build their dreams. We have coupled this commitment with a new wave of job-creating investments in a range of sectors, as well as a EGP 50 million fund to support start-ups,” British Ambassador John Casson said in the Tuesday statement.

In late 2016, Cairo introduced a law stiffening penalties against human traffickers. The move came after a migrant boat capsized in September 2016 off the Mediterranean coast, killing hundreds. The law imposes prison terms and fines on those found guilty of smuggling potential migrants or acting as brokers or middlemen.