A three-day workshop was held earlier in February for Spanish and Egyptian judges to exchange experience on combating human trafficking and migrant smuggling.
The workshop, which took place in Cairo, was delivered through the EU-funded CONMIGO project (Cooperation on Migration Governance) executed by the Spanish Cooperation in Egypt.
Leveraging Spain’s expertise in migration governance, the workshop delved into a diversity of topics, including the Spanish legal frameworks of trafficking in persons and smuggling of migrants, presentations of both the Egyptian and Spanish case laws, and the challenges of dealing with trafficking crimes within the Egyptian judiciary system.
The workshop was an opportunity for the Spanish and Egyptian Judges to exchange knowledge and experience on managing complex transnational cases. It was enriched by practical case studies, enabling attendees to put into practice the laws discussed.
In line with Egypt’s National Strategy on Combating Illegal Migration, the CONMIGO project aims to bolster the capacity of the country’s institutions, foster knowledge exchange and technical expertise on migration governance, as well as raise awareness of the risk of irregular migration.
That is why it is carried out in partnership with the Egypt’s National Coordinating Committee for Combating and Preventing Illegal Migration. The committee’s chairperson, Naela Gabr, noted in her speech that “we will never be able to combat irregular migration effectively and completely unless both sending and receiving countries -and Egypt occupies both roles- cooperate on development so we can offer our youth opportunities for a good life.”
In his opening remarks, Spain’s Ambassador to Cairo Álvaro Iranzo praised the workshop as an excellent result of the bilateral collaboration between the Spanish and Egyptian institutions. He added that “the project builds on the commonalities that exist between Spain and Egypt as being sending, receiving and transit countries. Such workshops foster a fruitful exchange of experiences between the two countries.”
Program Manager at the Spanish Cooperation Monica González Bastos further highlighted, “this is the 10th workshop with the Ministry of Justice that we have done in the framework of CONMIGO; that means 206 members of the judiciary have been trained by this program only.”
Source: Egypt Today Magazine