Amnesty urges Egypt to end abuse against African illegal migrants

Aug 20, 2008, 10:59 GMT

Cairo - Amnesty International (AI) on Wednesday called on Egypt to end abuses against migrants from Sub-Saharan Africa who are often killed, imprisoned or forcibly deported when caught trying to cross the country's borders into Israel.

'Amnesty International has written to Egypt's President Hosny Mubarak this week urging him to end the use of lethal force against African migrants attempting to cross Egypt's the borders into Israel,' the human rights organization said a statement.

The statement came a day after Egyptian police shot dead a Sudanese man and injured two more Sudanese who attempted to enter Israel illegally via the Rafah border crossing.

Amnesty said 25 people have been shot and killed while trying to illegally cross from Egypt into Israel since mid-2007. Tens of others were injured.

The organization also said more than 1,300 civilians have been tried by military court on charges of attempting to unlawfully exit Egypt's eastern border.

'To date, none of those tried have been allowed access to United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) representatives in Egypt despite the fact that many are considered to be refugees or asylum seekers in need of international protection,' the statement added.

In June 2008, Egypt forcibly returned up to 1,200 Eritreans to their home country, where they face the risk of torture and other serious human rights violations, according to Amnesty.

Egyptian police say some 480 would-be immigrants have been arrested since the beginning of the year. The largest group were Eritrean, with 210 arrested, followed by Sudanese.