Manpower reaching military service age annually:
males age 18-49: 802,920
females age 18-49: 764,176 (2005 est.)
Military expenditures - dollar figure:
$2.44 billion (2003)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP:
3.4% (2004)
Transnational Issues Egypt
Disputes - international:
Egypt and Sudan retain claims to administer the two triangular
areas that extend north and south of the 1899 Treaty boundary along
the 22nd Parallel, but have withdrawn their military presence; Egypt
is developing the Hala'ib Triangle north of the Treaty line; since
the attack on Taba and other Egyptian resort towns on the Red Sea in
October 2004, Egypt vigilantly monitors the Sinai and borders with
Israel and the Gaza Strip; Egypt does not extend domestic asylum to
some 70,000 persons who identify themselves as Palestinians but who
largely lack UNRWA assistance and, until recently, UNHCR recognition
as refugees
Refugees and internally displaced persons:
refugees (country of origin): 70,245 (Palestinian Territories)
14,904 (Sudan) (2005)
Trafficking in persons:
current situation: Egypt is a transit country for women trafficked
from Eastern Europe to Israel for the purpose of sexual
exploitation; these women generally arrive as tourists and are
subsequently trafficked through the Sinai Desert by Bedouin tribes;
men and women from sub-Saharan Africa and Asia are believed to be
trafficked through the Sinai Desert to Israel and Europe for labor
exploitation; some Egyptian children from rural areas are trafficked
within the country to work as domestic servants or laborers in the
agriculture industry
tier rating: Tier 2 Watch List - Egypt is placed on the Tier 2 Watch
List for its failure to show evidence of increasing efforts to
address trafficking over the past year, particularly in the area of
law enforcement
Illicit drugs:
transit point for Southwest Asian and Southeast Asian heroin and
opium moving to Europe, Africa, and the US; transit stop for
Nigerian couriers; concern as money-laundering site due to lax
enforcement of financial regulations
This page was last updated on 19 December, 2006
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