presence in the 1990s and Egypt has invested in and
effectively administers the area; Egypt no longer shows its
administration of the Bir Tawil trapezoid in Sudan on its maps;
Gazan breaches in the security wall with Egypt in January 2008
highlight difficulties in monitoring the Sinai border

Refugees and internally displaced persons:

refugees (country of origin): 60,000 - 80,000 (Iraq); 70,198
(Palestinian Territories); 12,157 (Sudan) (2007)

Trafficking in persons:

current situation: Egypt is a transit country for women trafficked
from Eastern European countries to Israel for sexual exploitation,
and is a source for children trafficked within the country for
commercial sexual exploitation and domestic servitude, although the
extent to which children are trafficked internally is unknown;
children were also recruited for domestic and agricultural work;
some of these children face conditions of involuntary servitude,
such as restrictions on movement, non-payment of wages, threats, and
physical or sexual abuse
tier rating: Tier 2 Watch List - Egypt is on the Tier 2 Watch List
for the third year in a row because it did not provide evidence of
increasing efforts to investigate and prosecute traffickers;
however, in July 2007, the government established the "National
Coordinating Committee to Combat and Prevent Trafficking in
Persons," which improved inter-governmental coordination on
anti-trafficking initiatives; Egypt made no discernible efforts to
punish trafficking crimes in 2007 and the Egyptian penal code does
not prohibit all forms of trafficking; Egypt did not increase its
services to trafficking victims during the reporting period (2008)

Illicit drugs:

transit point for cannabis, heroin, and opium moving to Europe,
Israel, and North Africa; transit stop for Nigerian drug couriers;
concern as money laundering site due to lax enforcement of financial
regulations

This page was last updated on 18 December, 2008

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@El Salvador

Introduction
El Salvador

Background:

El Salvador achieved independence from Spain in 1821 and from the
Central American Federation in 1839. A 12-year civil war, which cost
about 75,000 lives, was brought to a close in 1992 when the
government and leftist rebels signed a treaty that provided for
military and political reforms.

Geography
El Salvador

Location:

C