The NGO demands that Cairo put an “immediate” end to this “virulent campaign” and that it comply with International Law on asylum
June 19 (EUROPA PRESS) –
The non-governmental organization Amnesty International has denounced this Wednesday the “massive and arbitrary” arrests and illegal deportations of Sudanese refugees from Egypt, where they arrived fleeing the conflict unleashed in April 2023 in the country between the Army and the paramilitary Support Forces. Fast (RSF), while calling on Cairo to “immediately” end these measures.
The report ‘Handcuffed as dangerous criminals: arbitrary detention and forced returns of Sudanese refugees in Egypt’ reveals that security forces illegally detain and deport these people to Sudan without due process guarantees or the opportunity to request asylum, which represents a violation of the International right.
Thus, it states that there is evidence that suggests that thousands of Sudanese refugees have been arbitrarily detained and expelled from the country, after the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) estimated that 3,000 were deported in September 2023 alone. people from Egypt to Sudan.
“It is inconceivable that Sudanese women, men, girls and boys fleeing the armed conflict in their country and trying to reach safety across the border into Egypt are being detained en masse and subjected to arbitrary detention in deplorable and inhumane conditions, and that these people are then deported illegitimately,” said Amnesty International’s deputy regional director for the Middle East and North Africa, Sara Hashash.
“The Egyptian authorities must immediately end this virulent campaign of mass detentions and collective expulsions. They must fulfill their obligations under International Human Rights Law and refugee law: to provide those fleeing the conflict in Sudan with safe and dignified passage to Egypt and unrestricted access to asylum procedures,” he added.
Egypt for decades welcomed millions of Sudanese who studied, worked, invested or received healthcare in the country, with Sudanese women and girls, as well as boys under 16 and men over 49 exempt from meeting entry requirements. to the African country.
After the conflict broke out in Sudan, some 500,000 people fled to Egypt, although in May 2023 the Egyptian authorities imposed an entry visa requirement for all Sudanese, leading those fleeing to resort to crossing the border irregular movement to escape the fighting, which is still active and has intensified in recent months in the Darfur region (west).
In this way, the report includes the cases of 27 Sudanese who were arbitrarily detained along with 260 other people between October 2023 and March 2024 and reflects that the authorities forcibly deported 800 Sudanese between January and March of this year. after denying them the possibility of requesting asylum, including through UNHCR, and challenging deportation orders.
The document also notes that these actions have been accompanied by an increase in racist sentiments on the Internet and in the media in the country, while senior Egyptian officials have criticized the “burden” of hosting “millions” of refugees. , amid increased cooperation between the European Union (EU) and Egypt on migration and border control.
In October 2022, the bloc and Cairo signed a cooperation agreement for 80 million euros that included strengthening the capabilities of border guards to stop irregular migration and human trafficking, while in March 2024 a new aid package in which migration is a fundamental pillar.
“By cooperating with Egypt in the field of migration without rigorous human rights safeguards, the EU exposes itself to being complicit in the human rights violations committed by the country,” Hashash stressed, adding that “the EU “must put pressure on the Egyptian authorities to take concrete measures to protect refugees and migrants.”
In this sense, he pointed out that “the EU must also carry out rigorous assessments of the risks to Human Rights before launching any cooperation on migration, in addition to establishing independent monitoring mechanisms with clear reference parameters regarding regarding human rights”. “If there are risks or reports of abuse, cooperation should be stopped or suspended immediately,” he said.
ARRESTS AND EXPULSION PROCESS
The NGO has specified that the arrests have taken place mainly in Cairo and Giza, as well as in the province of Aswan, located on the border with Egypt, where identity checks are carried out on black people, which has spread fear. among the refugee community and has caused many people to fear leaving home.
Thus, he highlighted that detainees are transferred to police stations or a Central Security Forces camp in Shallal or to improvised detention centers, including warehouses in a military installation in Abu Simbel and a stable in another base near Nagaa al Karur. where conditions are “cruel and inhumane.”
In addition, he has stated that some people were detained in hospitals, while he has reviewed photos and videos in January 2024 in which women and children appeared sitting among garbage in a warehouse under Border Guard control. Some interviewees have detailed that the warehouses were infested with rats and that they had to spend nights without clothes or blankets.
Finally, after a period of detention of between days and six weeks, the agents handcuff and transfer these people to the Qustul Ashkit border crossing, where they are handed over to the Sudanese authorities, despite the risk of suffering human rights violations. his return to the country.
The war broke out on April 15, 2023 due to strong disagreements regarding the integration process of the paramilitary group – now declared a terrorist organization – within the Armed Forces, a situation that caused the definitive derailment of the transition opened in 2019 after the overthrow of the Omar Hasan al Bashir regime.
According to data from the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the fighting has already left more than ten million internally displaced. The conflict in the country, where nearly 50 million people live, has had its epicenter in recent weeks in the city of Al Fasher, capital of North Darfur, where nearly 800,000 civilians remain trapped in the midst of intense clashes between the Army and the RSF, who imposed a siege on the city.
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