| Egypt: Hundreds of migrants, asylum-seekers and refugees from Sudan and other sub-Saharan African countries | Date: 22-02-2008 |
| Author: Amnesty | |
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EGYPT Hundreds of migrants, asylum-seekers and refugees from Sudan and other sub-Saharan African countries On 19 February Egyptian security forces shot dead a Sudanese man trying to cross into Israel. A total of five African migrants have now been killed crossing the border so far this year. Security officials said 50-year-old Ermeniry Khasheef was shot in the back after he ignored orders to stop as he attempted to cross barbed wire near the border town of Rafah, in the north of the Sinai Peninsula. An Eritrean woman, Mervat Mer Hatover, had been shot dead three days earlier, after she ignored orders to stop as she was attempting to jump over the barbed wire in the El Kuntilla border region, in south-eastern Sinai Peninsula. According to security officials, Mervat Mer Hatover and her two daughters, aged eight and 10, had been among a group of Africans who paid smugglers to help them cross into Israel. All were arrested. The military prosecutor has reportedly ordered an autopsy on Mervat Mer Hatover but no proper investigation is known to have taken place. On 30 January two migrants from Ivory Cost were shot and killed trying to cross the border south of Rafah. According to the Egyptian security forces, a 22-year-old man and an 18-year-old woman bled to death before an ambulance could reach them. Six Eritreans and two Ethiopians were also arrested. On 19 January, another man from Ivory Cost bled to death after he was shot in the thigh at the border with Israel. A Sudanese and a Guinean were arrested. |
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