Egypt is continuing to deport Eritrean refugees and asylum seekers, among them Christians fleeing religious persecution, despite saying it would permit staff from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to visit them, added advocacy group Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW).
On Sunday, June 15, the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs "expressed its readiness to allow UNHCR visits to Eritreans imprisoned in the Hurghada and Aswan areas,"however "t 10 pm that same evening, security forces descended on Hurghada 1st police station, where 130 refugees were being held,"” CSW told BosNewsLife.
Some 110 detainees, including around 30 women, were removed from the prison "in an extremely forceful manner," said CSW adding that detainees’ hands were tied "roughly" behind their backs. "Each one was marched by an assigned officer into a vehicle and taken to an unknown destination."
MEN DEPORTED
About 20 male detainees, who were initially left behind in the police station, were "forcibly" returned to Massawa in Eritrea late Monday, June 16, but the whereabouts of the other refugees remained unclear, CSW said.
The group said the deportations, which began on June 11, violate Egypt’s obligations under international treaties governing refugees and torture, and a UNHCR non-return advisory for Eritrean refugees, “The Egyptian authorities are even thought to have deported Eritreans who had already gained UN recognition as refugees whilst in Sudan, but who had fled that country as they no longer felt safe there.”
So far almost 700 of the 1600 Eritreans detained in various Egyptian locations have reportedly been forcibly returned. There has been concern that the refugees, including Christians and deserters if the military, will face long prison terms, torture and in some cases execution. About 2,000 Christians are known to be imprisoned on charges related to “illegal worship.”
"DEEPLY SHOCKED"
"I am deeply shocked at the treatment that is being meted out to innocent refugees, and at the seeming lack of international action on their behalf," said Elsa Chyrum, Director of Human Rights Concern-Eritrea in a statement.
"These people have been treated like criminals when all they have done is seek a place of safety. Worse still, there are now serious grounds to fear for the continued wellbeing of some of those who have already been returned."
CSW National Director Stuart Windsor said that the "continuing deportations constitute a major violation of Egypt’s obligations under international law. In addition, Windsor said, "The fate of these vulnerable refugees and asylum seekers is a severe indictment on an international community which has failed so abjectly to put pressure on Egypt to ensure that they received the protection and assistance promised to them under international law."
