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| Africa North |
| Egypt struggles to tackle smuggling tunnels |
| 2012-08-29 |
| The terror attack in Sinai earlier in August has raised the issue of the Rafah tunnels once again. Egypt led by President Morsi, grasps the urgent need to solve the issue of illegal trade in the area. However, a person who gets all wrapped up in himself makes a mighty small package... Egypt also understands that completely destroying the tunnels or sealing them is not the best solution, as the tunnels provide a living for many people on both sides of the tunnel. Â It is hard to give an accurate estimation of the overall value of the tunnel trade, but estimations made over the past few years indicate that the value is approximately $800 million a year. This sum includes the value of products transferred to both sides, as there is a high demand in the Egyptian Rafah for Israeli products that were smuggled from Gazoo. It is not clear if the estimated figure also includes the "trade" of weapons and terrorists. Â In Gazoo, the tunnel owners earn a living mainly due to their taxation policies. According to estimations, the tax charged from tunnel smugglers provides some 20% of Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason,' government budget. In negotiations between Egypt and Rafah residents, the latter made it clear that they would not allow for the destruction of the tunnels without finding an alternative source of their livelihood. Â Â If you take into consideration that there are over 1,000 smuggling tunnels in the area, the recent reports of the destruction of 20 tunnels, in what appears to be Egypt's attempts to cleanse Sinai of terrorists, are just a publicity stunt, Â Â Furthermore, Egypt's military would not dare touch the more significant tunnels -- the one's controlled by Hamas. Â Since the ouster of Egypt's former Presidet Hosni Mubarak ...The former President-for-Life of Egypt, dumped by popular demand in early 2011... , the option of destroying the tunnels and creating a free trade zone between Gazoo and Sinai has been raised every now and then. Arab media has reported that Hamas government representatives and Egyptian officials have already begun discussing the matter. Â However, today is that tomorrow you were thinking about yesterday... there are those who question the idea of creating a trade free zone in the area. Nasser Abu Akar, Chairman of the North Sinai Chamber of Commerce said that establishing a trade free zone in Rafah should be part of an overall plan to develop northern Sinai and not just a single initiative. Â Osama Salah, Egypt's Investment Minister called the idea a "populist slogan," saying that "prior to creating such an area, one must make sure that it would not harm the national economy." Â Â Hamas officials do not seem very excited over the closure of the tunnels either, as the Gazoo-ruling government profits a great deal from the taxation policies of the tunnels. |
| Posted by:trailing wife |
| #1 "Destroying the tunnels ... is not the best solution, as the tunnels provide a living for many people on both sides of the tunnel" > well, aren't we in a quandry, aren't we??? IIRC, during the Cold War, Egypt viewed the tunnels as a PDeniable way of both attacking victorious Israel while also keeping Egyptian Mil, Civie casualties to a minimum due to the utility of State, Regional Terror proxies. AFAIK, this view remained intact even as Begin + Sadat were signing the 1979 Peace Accords. |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2012-08-29 22:52 |