PUBLIC AI Index: MDE 12/025/2007
Egypt: Hundreds of migrants, asylum seekers and refugees from Sudan and other sub-Saharan African countries
The lives of migrants, refugees and asylum seekers, who daily try to cross the border from Egypt into Israel, may be in danger, following the use of excessive force by law enforcement officials in the area. This follows the reported death of two men believed to be of Sudanese origin, who were allegedly shot dead by Egyptian security forces as they attempted to cross the border during the night of 1 August 2007.
Egyptian official sources have denied
that the shootings took place, although they have confirmed that
two men were arrested by the Egyptian border police on 2 August,
one of whom is said to be seriously injured. Amnesty International
is concerned that Egypt and Israel may be sending law enforcement officials
to the area who do not have the necessary training for dealing with crowd-control
situations, thus putting the lives of more migrants, refugees and asylum
seekers at risk.
Excessive use of force by the Egyptian
security forces has increased over the last few weeks. Prior to this incident,
a Sudanese woman died on 22 July 2007, after allegedly being shot by Egyptian
security forces while she was attempting to cross the border with Israel.
Other Sudanese, including an 11-year old girl, and a woman from the Ivory
Coast were also injured at the scene. Twenty-two
others from Sudan, Ivory Coast and Eritrea were also arrested by the Egyptian
authorities.
Thousands of migrants, refugees and asylum
seekers, who mostly come from Sudan and Eritrea as well as other parts
of sub-Saharan Africa, try to cross from Egypt to Israel each year. Their
numbers have been increasing in recent months and according to the Israeli
Minister of Interior Roni Bar-On some 300 try to cross into Israel every
week. Hundreds more are believed to be preparing to try
to cross the same border.
Meanwhile, raids by the Egyptian security forces in the border area between Egypt and Israel in July 2007 alone have reportedly led to the arrests of over 220 mostly Sudanese migrants, who were trying to cross the border without official permission. According to the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) some two to three million migrants, including thousands of refugees are currently living in Egypt. Most of whom are from Sudan. The increase in arrests follows an agreement between Egypt and Israel, due to the latter's pressure, at the beginning of July 2007, to reduce the flow of migrants crossing the border into Israel.
Background informatrion
Amnesty International acknowledges that states have the right to regulate
entry of foreigners into their territory. However, the measures taken must
not neglect or violate internationally recognized human rights law and
standards. According to international standards such as the UN Code of
Conduct for Law Enforcement Officials and the UN Basic Principles on the
Use of Force and Firearms by Law inforcement Officials, security force
officers should use force in line with the principles of necessity and
proportionality and should only employ firearms if lives are in danger
and there is no other means to respond to that danger.
In May 2007, the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of all Migrant workers and Members of their Families has in its concluding observations called on Egypt "to initiate training for all officials working in the area of migration, in particular police and border personnel ...".