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.
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