- International human rights body has condemned the Egyptian government for forcibly deporting Eritrean asylum seekers who were arrested over the past two months trying to cross into Israel.
Human Rights Watch said Egypt should halt deportations of asylum seekers to their home country, where they face detention and the risk of torture. Egypt has deported 32 Eritreans on Wednesday, who were reported to have been flown back to Asmara, the Eritrean capital.
The rights organisation said Egypt has forcibly returned home more than 45 Eritrean migrants on several flights in the past two weeks without first providing the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) the required opportunity to interview them.
Deputy director of Human Rights Watch's Middle East and North Africa division, Joe Stork, said Eritreans who have been deported back to their country are victims of the repressive government with a terrible human rights record.
According HRW, since mid-December, the Egyptian authorities have detained dozens of Eritreans in the Nakhil detention center in North Sinai and in police stations in the nearby city of al-Arish.
The organisation has previously condemned the Egyptian forces shooting of African migrants attempting to cross into Israel through the Sinai Peninsula, a route that has seen heavy traffic of African migrants hoping to go to Europe.
Thousands of Africans sneak into Egypt every year seeking employment or passage to Israel in search of better life. But many are faced with torture in detention centers if arrested before crossing over to Israel.
Israel has returned at least 139 Africans, mostly Sudanese, to Egypt in 2007 and 2008; Egypt has reportedly deported some of them, and the whereabouts and condition of the remainder are unknown.
In August 2008, Israel Defense Forces (IDF) officers returned 91 African migrants who had crossed the border from Egypt.
Increasing numbers of Eritreans are fleeing the indefinite national military service imposed by the Eritrean government and the pervasive arbitrary detention and torture. Eritrea routinely imprisons individuals caught trying to flee the country and issues "shoot to kill" orders for anyone found crossing the border without permission, according to the Human Rights Watch.
Egyptian officials said the number of migrants from poor, conflict-ridden African countries crossing the Sinai Peninsula from Egypt to Israel has increased significantly since 2007. Since 2006, more than 130,000 refugees, asylum seekers and other migrants have passed though Egypt and crossed the Sinai border into Israel, according to the Egyptian government report.
afrol News - It is called "financial inclusion", and it is a key government policy in Rwanda. The goal is that, by 2020, 90 percent of the population is to have and actively use bank accounts. And in only four years, financial inclusion has doubled in Rwanda.
afrol News - The UN's humanitarian agencies now warn about a devastating famine in Sudan and especially in South Sudan, where the situation is said to be "imploding". Relief officials are appealing to donors to urgently fund life-saving activities in the two countries.
afrol News - Fear is spreading all over West Africa after the health ministry in Guinea confirmed the first Ebola outbreak in this part of Africa. According to official numbers, at least 86 are infected and 59 are dead as a result of this very contagious disease.
afrol News - It is already a crime being homosexual in Ethiopia, but parliament is now making sure the anti-gay laws will be applied in practical life. No pardoning of gays will be allowed in future, but activist fear this only is a signal of further repression being prepared.
afrol News / Africa Renewal - Ethiopia's ambitious plan to build a US$ 4.2 billion dam in the Benishangul-Gumuz region, 40 km from its border with Sudan, is expected to provide 6,000 megawatts of electricity, enough for its population plus some excess it can sell to neighbouring countries.
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