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http://www.cogitatiopress.com/ojs/index.php/socialinclusion/article/view/180
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SINAI TRAFFICKING: ORIGIN AND DEFINITION
OF A NEW FORM OF HUMAN TRAFFICKING
Mirjam
van Reisen, Conny Rijken
Abstract
The
phenomenon that is coined “Sinai Trafficking” started in 2009 in the Sinai
desert. It involves the abduction, extortion, sale, torture, sexual violation
and killing of men, women and children. Migrants, of whom the vast majority are
from Eritrean descent, are abducted and brought to the Sinai desert, where they
are sold and resold, extorted for very high ransoms collected by mobile phone,
while being brutally and “functionally” tortured to support the extortion. Many
of them die in Sinai. Over the last five years broadcasting stations, human rights
organisations and academics have reported on the practices in the Sinai and
some of these reports have resulted in some confusion on the modus operandi.
Based on empirical research by the authors and the analysis of data gathered in
more than 200 recorded interviews with Sinai hostages and survivors on the
practices, this article provides a definition of Sinai Trafficking. It argues
that the term Sinai Trafficking can be used to differentiate a particular new
set of criminal practices that have first been reported in the Sinai Peninsula.
The article further examines how the new phenomenon of Sinai Trafficking can be
framed into the legal human trafficking definition. The interconnectedness of
Sinai Trafficking with slavery, torture, ransom collection, extortion, sexual
violence and other severe crimes is presented to substantiate the use of the
trafficking framework. The plight of Sinai survivors in Israel and Egypt is
explained to illustrate the cyclical process of the trafficking practices
especially endured by Eritreans, introduced as the Human Trafficking Cycle. The
article concludes by setting out areas for further research.