Refugees in Sinai: after hopes were raised, the tragedy continues

Milan, January 23th, 2011. The plight of the African refugees in the Sinai is not over yet. The authorities in Rafah and El Gorah have cancelled the security operation to try and free the African migrants. According to authorities, the special body will not be used because of the Camp David accords.

The agreements stated that the border patrol could only employ light weapons, and abstain from using armoured cars. Israel granted an exemption to such agreements for reasons of security, but Egypt continues to stick to the previous agreement.

"The latest news is very distressing," say Roberto Malini, Matteo Pegoraro and Dario Picciau, co-presidents of EveryOne Group. "We have learned from the authority of Al-Arish, the capital of the North Sinai Governorate, that all interventions by the security forces have been cancelled. The truth of the matter is that Egypt does not want to stop this trafficking in human beings. "Meanwhile, more African migrants have been arrested by the Egyptian border police. "In recent months, police offices have arrested hundreds of refugees in Africa. Two have been killed and many others wounded. On January 17th and 20th the police forces arrested six Eritrean refugees in Rafah and ten in El Gorah, in Northern Sinai.

The refugees who failed to reach Israel, are now in the prisons of Nakhl, Al Arish (Northern Sinai) and Al-Qanater (near Cairo). A young Eritrean refugee told us that numerous abuses are taking places in these terrible prisons. Like in the traffickers' shipping containers. According to Amnesty International and other NGOs, Egypt is failing to observe the Geneva Convention on Refugees. The Arab Republic signed the Convention in 1951. "After arrest, the refugees are subjected to very harsh interrogations and then jailed," says EveryOne. "The military courts sentence them to one year in prison and fine them for illegal immigration. The migrants are not allowed to meet the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.

They are identified by the embassies of their countries of origin and after detention, they are deported". But even then, the refugees' odyssey is not over. "Once deported back to Eritrea and other nations ruled by dictators, the migrants end up in nightmarish prisons. In these places of suffering, the prisoners are subjected to violence and torture. Many of them have died and in other cases they have started to have mental heath problems. On January 1st a young woman, Sebe Hagos Mebrahtu, died in an Eritrean prison. She had been punished for reading the Bible. Refugees deported back to their homeland often meet the same fate. Young men suspected of having left Eritrea to avoid compulsory military service are sent to prison.

They have no right to a trial and their punishment involves torture. Unfortunately, the State of Israel has now begun to deport African refugees to Egypt. They too are sentenced in the Arab Republic to imprisonment and a fine, then they are deported without access to international protection".

In the photo, torture and ill-treatment in detention are routine in Eritrea

Refugees in Sinai: after hopes were raised, the tragedy continues

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