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Egypt: Govt Forcibly Returns Up to 1,400 Asylum Seekers From Eritrea
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PRESS RELEASE
13 June 2008
Posted to the web 13 June 2008
The Egyptian authorities forcibly returned a group of around 200 asylum-seekers to Eritrea in the night of 11 June, and are preparing to forcibly return a further 1,400. In Eritrea they will be at risk of torture and other ill-treatment. The office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Egypt has not been granted access to any of the Eritreans to assess their asylum claims, despite repeated requests. The authorities appear to have scheduled a number of special flights to Eritrea.
A group of 169 Eritrean asylum-seekers could be returned as early as the evening of 12 June: they were moved from Nasr al Nuba police station near Aswan city, where they had been detained, to Central Security Forces camp in Shallal, south of Aswan. Hundreds of Eritrean asylum-seekers are detained in several police stations near Aswan city. Dozens of others are detained in Al-Qanater prison near the capital, Cairo. Around 700 are detained near the Red Sea cities of Hurghada and Marsa Alam. Lawyers representing the asylum-seekers held in Aswan believe that 200 of those held in Hurghada are being transported to Aswan, in preparation for forcible return.
The 200 asylum-seekers deported on 11 June had been detained in a Central security forces camp in Shallal in Aswan city. They were told they would be transported to the UNHCR office in Cairo. Their lawyers tried to reach them the same evening to offer medication and food but could not get to them. The Eritreans were then taken to Aswan International airport and put on a special EgyptAir flight to Eritrea.
Most asylum-seekers returned to Eritrea are likely to be arbitrarily detained incommunicado in inhumane conditions from weeks to years. They will be at serious risk of torture or other ill-treatment, particularly those who have fled from compulsory military service.
Since the end of February, flows of Eritrean asylum-seekers have reached Egypt either via its southern border with Sudan or by sea, south of the city of Hurghada. Others are recognized as refugees by the UNHCR in Sudan, and are fleeing Sudan to avoid being forcibly returned to Eritrea by the Sudanese authorities.
Hundreds of the Eritrean asylum-seekers in Aswan were charged with illegal entry in Egypt and were sentenced to a suspended one-month prison term. They were however kept in administrative detention by orders of the Ministry of Interior, as granted under the Emergency law in Egypt.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) issued guidelines to all governments opposing return to Eritrea of rejected Eritrean asylum seekers on the grounds of the record of serious human rights violations in Eritrea. These guidelines are still in force.
Refugees and asylum-seekers returned to Eritrea have been detained incommunicado, and tortured. Two asylum-seekers returned to Eritrea by the German authorities on 14 May are believed to have been arrested on arrival, and have not been seen since. Another asylum-seeker returned from the UK in November 2007 was detained in inhumane conditions and ill-treated before being released.
Thousands of people are detained incommunicado in Eritrea, in secret and indefinitely, without charge or trial. They have been arrested for suspected opposition to the government, practicing their religious beliefs as members of banned evangelical or other churches, evading military conscription or trying to flee the country.
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Military service is compulsory for all men and women aged 18 to 40. There is no limit on length of service. There is no exemption for conscientious objectors, and no alternative non-military service. The usual punishment for evading military service is detention and torture: this can include having hands and feet tied behind the back in a painful position known as "the helicopter".
What "torture"? Detention, yes. But "torture"? Give me a break. Please do not insult our intelligence. Eritreans inside and in Diaspora have been asking their officials non-stop for any signs of torture for the last 10 years. After all, it's literally our sisters, brothers, mothers and fathers that are detained. Trust me, if there were any signs that there existed torture, we would not need a clueless watchdog like AI to get us to act (and not just talk, talk, and talk). We would have stopped the action or at least stopped paying 2% taxes 10 years ago.
ZE KURUMT`KA HUTSA TE`TKURTMELU! What is happing to our follow Eritrean brothers and sisters is horrible to say the least,unfortunatly some of us are in a state of denial and it is very hard to break that denial cycle unless one of your family member is the victim of the Eritrean government.Remember, that what goes around cames around !You just have to wait uptill your time of been a victim is coming before you know it.Injustices to one is injustices to all of us!
It is a shame that after all the years of war with Ethiopia we now have the enemy inside. One of our brothers who fought with us is torturing our people and making them flee to other countries to beg for asylum. There are no words to explain the pain I feel knowing that my cousins and my uncle will be forced back to Eritrea and arrested directly at the airport. Those who pay the 2% are only financing the torture of their brothers and sisters. I will not denie and also not support dictatorship!!!
Eritreans are immigrating to other countries for better life as any other country's citizens do. What is wrong to go somewhere and live a better life. A better life than in Eritrea as is done by any other county's citizen in the world is doing. Of course there are some factors that make eritreans to leave their country. National service is one. But religiouse reasons are fake in most cases. Most ofthose who claim as pentecotals are bogus, as they use this excuse to get acceptance.It is even more suitable for Ethiopians to calim as... [Read Full Text]
I understand what you are saying and there is definitely througt behind it. But what about other factors like eg, that the are no votes in Eritrea, no variety of political parties, the constitution never came to effect and that there is no freedom of speech and freedom of press? Dont you think that that makes also elder people flee? The national service is only good for the short term, but what the youth needs is education, otherwise we will not develop our country.
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