Is Child Kidnapping on the Rise?

In the past few days, I have heard of three separate incidences in Hurghada of a child being kidnapped. A parents worst nightmare, the apparent increase is prompting many residents to question what is going on. Parents are advising not to allow children out into the streets to play, to avoid certain areas, and to never leave your children out of your sight.

Last April, headlines in Egypt were dominated with the trend when the grandniece of the late Anwar al-Sadat, 12 year old Zeina Effat al-Sadat, was kidnapped. Zeina was released almost 24 hours later, following negotiations between the kidnappers and her family and a 5 million LE ransom sum paid. Her story points to the increasing trend in Egypt of kidnapping for profit. "As a sign of Egypt's deteriorating security conditions, child abductions have become an easy way for criminals to make money," security expert and former policeman Maher Zakhary told IRIN.

The family members of richer, more affluent Egyptians are being targetted with the kidnapper's sole agenda being the ransom payment. Kidnappings in and around the greater Cairo area, particularly from areas such as Heliopolis, would appear to fall into this category. But they stand out; the ransom request usually promptly follows the kidnapping.

I reported in this blog last year on the case of Soraya Dierich, who to this day remains "missing." Soraya's story is indicative of another common form of kidnapping in Egypt. The case of an Egyptian man marrying a foreign woman, bearing a child together, and once the relationship sours the man kidnaps the child and disappears. Soraya is the child of such an unfortunate situation, and was kidnapped by her father in May of 2011. Sadly the incidences of kidnappings like this are becoming so commonplace, the US Department of State has clear guidelines for parents facing these issues. Stressed in the document are Egyptian custodial laws, which will generally favor the mother if she is an Egyptian citizen, and / or Muslim. Otherwise custodial rights will often fall to the father, and in the eyes of the Egyptian legal system, he may claim the parental rights to his children. In cases like Soraya with a foreign mother, her alleged kidnapping is complicated by the fact that in the eyes of most Egyptians, the father has done nothing wrong.

But the recent spat of kidnappings in Hurghada cannot be as clearly defined as the two incidents above.

Omar, kidnapped in Hurghada

The first story surfaced on the 12th of April, with reports of 1 year old Omar being kidnapped from the popular Villages Road area. Omar's mother, an Egyptian woman, left him with a foreign woman outside the coffee shop Arabesque to take her daughter to the toilet. When she returned, Omar had disappeared without a trace. The last description of the foreign woman, as has been issued by the mother, was: "the woman that took omar has the birthmark on the right wrist. It has the shape of a coin and is dark brown. She is between 30 and 40 years old, around 170cm to 180cm tall, medium build, a little bit a long chin, dark brown hair till the shoulder. Her eyes are blue or green, she is not sure because of the red sunglasses. She was wearing a white bermuda and a pink blouse. Her daughter is around 2 years light brown hair till the shoulder. She was wearing a bleu jeans skirt and a red tshirt with yellow lines in front. The women was talking arabic with a foreign accent."


When I first read this story, my initial reaction was "how could a mother possibly leave her child with a stranger." The common reaction appears to be that women in Egypt previously had nothing to fear from leaving their children with strangers, as children are so coveted here they were generally always safe. Perhaps I'm just too cynical having grown up outside of this country to expect a stranger will safely watch my child.

It wasn't long after the story of Omar was circulated, that reports of another child's kidnapping surfaced. Snatched on the 11th of April, 7 year old Yousef Ahmad al-Sawi was taken in Hurghada. The poster below has been hung up in mosques and local supermarkets in the attempts to locate him.

Sadly when it comes to preventing or protecting children from these instances of kidnapping, strict parental vigilance is the best way forward. Hani Helal, the secretary-general of the Egyptian Coalition on Children's Rights, said "the government does not attach enough importance to the problems suffered by children. This leads to increasing violations against the children."

Helal further claimed that if the Egyptian government does not work to improve the security of children in Egypt, he will resort to the UN.

So why are these children being snatched if there isn't an obvious ransom or custodial battle being played out?  The answer it seems, is either human trafficking, sexual exploitation, trade in body organs, or criminal activity.

Such was the situation for Hayam Rabie, who's 1 year old daughter went missing after Rabie left her with neighbours while she ran errands. Upon her return, her daughter was gone without a trace. It was later uncovered that one of Rabie's neighbours had kidnapped the child. Evidence uncovered in her neighbours flat revealed blood bags, IVs, and other medical equipment, pointing to an ominous conclusion. Rabie's daughter remains missing.

Is this a new phenomenon as many media outlets are reporting? Is this really the new trend of security in Egypt in the post-revolution vacuum? While most stories are attributing this rise in kidnapping to the police's inability to do anything about it, the sadder truth may in fact be that this has been a long standing tradition, but up until recently the media has not felt the need to report on the circumstances. In previous years many of the children kidnapped were snatched from the remote and poorest areas in Egypt; their stories were just not considered newsworthy.

As Hafez Abu Saeda, secretary-general of the Egyptian Organisation for Human Rights, a Cairo- based NGO, told IPS in 2009, "In most cases, children are kidnapped for use in criminal gangs - gangs of beggars, thieves or drug dealers - or for prostitution and sexual exploitation," he said. "Of course, many cases are simply children running away from home due to domestic problems, or the result of a personal vendetta - not uncommon in the Egyptian countryside."

Fediya Abu Shohba, professor of criminal law at the Cairo-based National Centre for Social and Criminal Research, agrees with Abu Saeda, and in the same article states:


"The disappearance of children has proliferated over the last five years, but has become especially acute over the course of the last year [2009]," Abu Shohba told IPS. "And when a child disappears - and doesn't come back - it usually means they have been kidnapped.

"The prevalence of the phenomenon can be attributed to several, mainly social, factors," she says. "These include an increase in the number of vulnerable children living on the street, decreasing parental care due to economic pressures, the erosion of traditional religious values, and the promotion of violence and crime by the mass media."

So although it would appear that these kidnappings are not a new and developing trend, it does not lesson the gravity of the situation. Parents are being advised to keep constant watch on their children and to never leave them unattended. A hotline has been set up to receive reports of kidnapping which they claim have risen in the post-revolution times to 6 or 7 calls a day. [Despite researching this, I have been unable to find the number for this hotline.] Preventative measures are the only way to ensure the safety of your child; only you can help stop this rising trend of kidnappings.

Female Reporter Attacked In Cairo

As a female living in Egypt I am appalled and shocked to read the story of Lara Logan, a foreign journalist who was attacked on Friday the 11th. A day that has been marked as one that will forever change the course of Egyptian history. Marred by a story that is only just coming to light.

Egypt is trumped continuously as being a safe country to live in (past few weeks unrest aside). This is overall true. Particularly as a woman. There isn't a huge rate of rape in comparison to many countries in the West, and walking in the streets at night is relatively secure. Or at least, that's what people will tell you.

Generally speaking, I have felt safe in Egypt as a woman. That being said, I know not to take taxis on my own at night, I know to avoid certain areas in the country as a white woman on my own. I know not to engage strange men on the streets, particularly if they try to speak to me first. This is safety 101 when it comes to being an expat in Egypt. (**NOTE** Take an Egyptian man with you...and you'll never have problems!**)

I have spoken to many expat women who have lived in Egypt, who will mention the verbal harassment as being the highest form of threat they ever feel. I am truly happy for these women, as having to deal with any form of an attack is a frightening experience in itself.

Throughout my period in Egypt, I have experienced three circumstances when I truly felt fear. First, with my sister in the Friday Market when we were surrounded by men who were reaching and groping any area they could possibly reach. We were actually saved by three Egyptian men who then escorted us out of the area. Now, to be fair, we probably shouldn't have been in the Friday Market in the first place as foreign women, but, that does not excuse the behaviour.

My second experience was by far the most frightening. Walking in Maadi with a friend, and a car with two guys driving by and throwing petrol all over me. Thank God they did not light a match to follow. The two guys ended up stopping, I was punched twice, my friend had his nose broken. Completely unprovoked, police could do nothing.

Third experience was in a taxi, while the driver tried to take me into a secluded area in Cairo. Unfortunately for him, I knew where we were going, fortunately for me we stopped right outside a police station and the driver was promptly arrested.

Moral of the story, Egypt has been dealing with problems of sexual harassment for years. Directed both at foreigners and Egyptian women. The story of Lara Logan is horrifying, and serves as a reminder to Egyptians that the power to change your country does not lie solely within the hands of the government or the voices of the masses. The power to change your country lies with individuals. If you cannot change a person's way of thinking, corruption will never end, harassment will continue, bribes will continue to pass through unseen hands. Use your voice not just to express your discontent, but to stand up for those around you. If you see a woman being harassed, don't jump on the bandwagon or turn a blind eye, DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT. Without attempting to change yourselves as individuals, don't expect society to change at all.

For those interested, here is Lara's story.

France and Veiling

It's been a parliamentary debate well over one year in the making, and this week, the French Parliament is finally set to discuss the issue of the niqab (face veil) and its permissibility in public areas in France. Last year, I wrote a blog which highlighted the situation in France, and the rising tide of Islamophobia that was accompanying cries to ban the niqab entirely. In May, the French cabinet approved a bill dealing with the niqab in public places, however before it can be enforced as law, the French Parliament must also approve the bill. The debate is set for this week, and should the French Parliament pass this bill, it will change the face of France, and potentially ignite a domino effect in the rest of Europe.

Should France outlaw the bill, it will join Belgium as the only other country in Europe to have banned the face veil, but the trend will surely not end there. Spain has already expressed a rising interest in banning the niqab in the country also, and were France to make this ruling, it will spur forward the notions of other nations who have mentioned they may take the same action.

So what does this really mean?

Firstly, many people greatly misunderstand what the Islamic veil really is, and why women wear it. There are many variations of veiling, while the two that people are generally most familiar with are the hijab, or head scarf, and the focus of debate in France, the niqab. The BBC has provided a great article detailing what the hijab is and its history in Islam, as well as advocates for and against veiling. The niqab is interpreted as a more extreme version of veiling for women, whereby the entire face save the eyes is covered. The Burka is even more extreme, with women covering their entire face, with a small netted area for her to see through. The question often raised by scholars and individuals alike, is whether or not Islam actually call for a woman to cover her face entirely; for that matter, does it even call for a woman to cover her hair?

The answer is unfortunately not a case of Yes or No. Islam, and therefore Muslims, does not have a ruling religious figurehead such as the Vatican for Christianity. This leaves verses (surahs) in the Qu'ran open for individual interpretation, and various interpretations of the versus dealing with women exist. There are Islamic advocates that believe the Qu'ran explicitly directs a woman to cover at least her head and neck to conform with the Islamic requirement of modest dress. More extreme interpretations see that the Qu'ranic surahs direct women to cover their entire body's, including face, when in the presence of men that are not directly related to them or their family. For many women raised in the West, the mere idea of covering one's entire face seems extreme. However, for women that choose to wear the niqab of their own volition, they truly believe that they are following the will of God, and abiding by Islamic doctrine. A simple explanation for this reasoning can be found here.

Now this brings us to France, and Muslim women in France.

France has always boasted about being a secular nation, and one that respects an individual's freedom of expression and human rights. Despite this, France has previously ruled that religious

symbols and iconography should not be explicitly displayed, lest it offends those of different believes or secular ideology. This seems fair enough, no outright religious iconography. But does the niqab fall under this umbrella definition? Many would disagree, however French President Nicolas Sarkozy sees the niqab not as a religious symbol, but as a symbol of the segregation and suppression of women. French Prime Minister Francois Fillon even went as far to say that Muslims who wear the niqab are "highjacking Islam,"while providing a "dark sectarian image" of the religion. Quite an extreme statement to make, and certainly an assertion of the underlying French views on the niqab and full face veils on women.

Having lived in an Islamic country for four years now, I still cannot wrap my mind around a woman's decision to wear a niqab of their own volition, but I still advocate that as a Muslim woman, it is her right to make that choice, particularly if she believes it strengthens her commitment to God. There is no doubt that the Islamic religion advocates modest dress, but does this modesty extend to entirely covering your body and face? I don't believe so. It should, however, remain a choice that Muslim women are free to make.

The self-proclaimed secular state is preparing to pass a law that will strip women of the right to this decision. The legislation will also include fines for brothers and husbands found to have forced women in their family to don the niqab. All well and good, a woman should never be forced to wear something, but isn't forcing her NOT to wear something essentially the same thing?! One party that opposed banning the niqab in public places, the opposition Socialist Party, has now announced that they will abstain from voting this week, meaning the one party that opposed this grievous violation of a woman's right to free expression is sitting back and keeping their traps shut. Congratulations on solidifying your government's efforts to hinder free expression and right to religious doctrine.

Studies in France document that there are approximately 5 million Muslims living in the country, and of this, only 2000 or so wear the full face veil. Is it really so offensive to the "open minded" European nations to permit these women to wear the niqab? Now I understand that one point for banning the face veil is a level of security, as if a woman has her entire face concealed, how can her identity be verified, or how is it even possible to know that it really is a woman hiding underneath. For these cases, such as when re-issuing ID cards, or employment and security checks, by all means outlaw the face veil. But to do it merely because of the belief that it is further segregating women shows an arrogance that far supersedes security.

It would seem, particularly if this bill passes this week, that secularity is out, and Islamophobia is in. Only time will how if this trend will continue to spread throughout the rest of Europe, and how long it will take for governmental officials to finally realise that this is not a matter of protecting the rights of women, it is a matter of stripping followers of one religious doctrine of their human rights, and right to free expression. A right, that many in our history have died to preserve, upset by the ruling of the elite in France for the "greater good."

For more reading on this subject, see: What is the final ruling on Hijab, Studies on the Surah's detailing modest dress and France's campaign against the Niqab.