A new report created by the Knesset’s Research and Information Center shows that trafficking in women for prostitution appears to have dropped sharply in 2007. No women have been caught being smuggled into Israel from Egypt to work as prostitutes for nine months, officials said. Those working with victims of trafficking in women said that dozens of women were smuggled in despite the IDF control of the border in recent months.
The report found that the number of foreign infiltrators requesting asylum had risen dramatically in 2007. 898 people managed to reach Israel from Sudan, 430 came from Eritrea, and dozens came from other countries.
The Knesset’s Committee on Drug Abuse and the Subcommittee on the Trafficking of Women will meet on Monday to discuss the report. The groups will also discuss increasingly frequent clashes between IDF soldiers and smugglers, and the possibility of building a fence along the Egyptian border.