by Frederik Pleitgen and Mohammed Fadel Fahmy, CNN Editor's note: Watch the CNNI documentary "Stand in the Sinai" on Friday September 21 at 1530 and 2030 GMT. The area of Al Mehdia near Egypt's border with Israel is a lawless place even by Northern Sinai's standards. There is no police force and a military offensive launched recently after a deadly string of militant attacks on Egyptian border guards, has not stopped the illicit trade that flourishes in this area. Tankers full of fuel still make their way to smuggling tunnels leading to Gaza in broad daylight and marijuana fields are cultivated with elaborate irrigation systems in the middle of the desert. Last year CNN visited the region as part of the Freedom Project spotlighting the depths that the traffickers have sunk. Now we revisit the remote region to see Bedouins tackling the trafficking on their doorstep. Sinai Tragedy: Eritrea Tyrant's Hands In Human Trafficking 2 November 2011 The tragic saga of young Eritrean refugees in the Sinai desert can neither be understood completely nor explained definitively without taking into account Eritrea tyrant Isias Afewarki's irrefutable involvement in human trafficking regarding this matter. Below is, for the record, an excerpt from the report of the UN Somalia Eritrea Monitoring Group (UN SEMG) about tyrant Afewarki's involvement not only in this matter but also in weapons smuggling in the Sinai. The exerpts can be found on pp. 109-110 and 96. 422. According to former Eritrean military officials and international human rights activists, military officers involved in the practice charge roughly $3,000 a head for each person exiting Eritrea. Eritreans seeking to leave the country illegally (i.e. without an exit visa), and who can afford to pay these fees, often choose to do so rather than risk imprisonment. 423. In some cases, however, smugglers may demand an additional ransom payment up to $20,000 per head in order to release their charges. An Eritrean directly involved in smuggling operations into Egypt explained to the Monitoring Group how family members are required to send the funds via money transfer agencies to Eritrean officials operating in the Eritrean embassy in Egypt, and in Israel, in order to secure the release of their relatives.359 424. Although the Government of Eritrea prohibits human smuggling, and has reportedly imprisoned some officials for taking part in it, senior Government and/or party officials linked to General Kifle's command profit from the practice.360 The Monitoring Group has obtained details of a Swiss bank account into which the proceeds from smuggling have been deposited and has provided the Swiss authorities with information related to this account, together with the personal and contact details of the Swiss-based coordinator of this trafficking ring and details of the coordinator's Egypt-based associates. Excerpt of Weapons smuggling network [page 96] 360. On 28 March 2009, according to a former Eritrean military officer with current contacts within the Eritrean Defence Force, a convoy comprising ethnic Rashaida drivers, a Palestinian individual and Lebanese passengers travelled in convoy from Aswan in Egypt towards Sinai. The convoy carried 45 anti-tank weapons and 25 surface-to-air missiles in addition to personal weapons used by the guards of the convoy.293 The source told the Monitoring Group that the convoy was led by an Eritrean military officer trained in the Syrian Arab Republic.294 Multiple sources interviewed by the Monitoring Group have independently confirmed that Eritrea retains a number of military officers either based in the Syrian Arab Republic or trained in that country.295 361. On 7 February 2011, a fighter from a Sudanese armed group once supported by Eritrea witnessed the passing of a similar convoy at the Sudanese-Egyptian border near the town of Hala'ib. The convoy was made up of approximately 20 four-wheel drive vehicles split into three groups and driving several kilometres away from each other, all without number plates. The individuals on board appeared to be a mix of Rashaida and Middle Easterners, and many of them were armed with personal weapons.296 362. An Eritrean source, who claims to have long been engaged in people smuggling activities on behalf of General Teklai Kifle "Manjus" (see paras. 421-424 below), told the Monitoring Group that he was first deployed into Egypt in a convoy carrying weapons in 2008. According to the source, his contacts confirm that Eritrean agents based in Egypt were continuing to coordinate routine trafficking of people and arms via Sinai in 2011.297 363. In order to further pursue this line of enquiry, the Monitoring Group has asked the Egyptian authorities for additional details relating to interdiction of such smuggling activities, including media reports of a convoy reportedly attacked byEgyptian forces in March 2011,298 but had yet to receive a response at the time of the submission of the present report.

• published: 19 Sep 2012
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