During the reporting period, international organizations and NGOs reported an increase in Egyptians irregularly migrating through Libya in an attempt to reach Europe, in part due to the closure of Egypt’s sea routes; once in Libya, some of these migrants were subject to sex trafficking and forced labor.  Traffickers reportedly exploit Egyptian children in sex trafficking and forced begging in Europe.  Traffickers subject Egyptian adults to forced labor in construction, agriculture, domestic work, and low-paying service jobs in the region.  An international organization reported an increase in the use of online methods to recruit trafficking victims; in 2021, media reported a Saudi recruitment agency coordinated with an Egyptian marketing company to use a social media site to fraudulently recruit women into domestic servitude in other parts of the Middle East.  During the reporting period, an NGO reported the government coordinated and conducted joint operations with a militia in the Sinai Peninsula that allegedly recruited and used children, including some in direct hostilities.

Traffickers reportedly subject men and women from South and Southeast Asia and East Africa to forced labor in domestic service, construction, cleaning, and begging, as well as sex trafficking.  Male refugees and migrants are vulnerable to exploitative labor practices, including forced labor.  Foreign domestic workers – who are not covered under Egyptian labor laws – primarily from Syria, Yemen, Bangladesh, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Nigeria, Sudan, South Sudan, Sri Lanka, and parts of West Africa are highly vulnerable to forced labor; employers at times require them to work excessive hours, confiscate their passports, withhold their wages, deny them food and medical care, refuse to provide them with work visas, and subject them to physical, sexual, and psychological abuse.  Some employers file false claims of theft to further exploit domestic workers.  Traffickers subject women and girls, including refugees and migrants from Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, and the Middle East to sex trafficking in Egypt.  During the reporting period, an NGO reported migrant smugglers recruit economically marginalized migrants from the Horn of Africa to travel to Egypt in exchange for work or minimal fees; however, the smugglers then exploit the migrants, in particular unaccompanied children, at various locations along the migration route in sex trafficking, domestic servitude, and forced labor on construction sites in hazardous and exploitative working conditions.  Once the migrants arrive in Egypt, their smugglers/traffickers then hold them in captivity until their “debts” are paid.  In 2018, an international organization reported Colombian nationals were smuggled into Egypt to work in the entertainment industry, and in 2019, an NGO reported that employers in resort towns, such as Sharm El Sheikh, sexually exploit dancers from Colombia.  An international organization reported new cases during the reporting period involving victims fraudulently recruited to play or coach sports in Egyptian sports clubs, in particular soccer clubs, having their passports confiscated, and being forced to do domestic work such as cleaning for club management and owners; the international organization reported assisting victims from Bolivia, Argentina, Haiti, and Sub-Saharan African countries.  Refugees and migrants from Syria, Sudan, South Sudan, and Yemen who live in Egypt are at risk of trafficking.  NGOs and international organizations report unaccompanied children among the African migrant population are at risk of trafficking in Egypt; Sudanese gangs reportedly target unaccompanied and separated children to force or coerce the children to sell drugs or commit other petty crimes.  Undocumented migrants and asylum-seekers from the Horn of Africa, who transit Egypt en route to Europe, are at risk of trafficking along this migration route.