19-06-2024
Egyptian authorities must immediately cease the mass arbitrary arrests and unlawful deportations of Sudanese refugees who have crossed the border into Egypt to seek safe haven from the ongoing conflict in Sudan, said Amnesty International in a new report released today on the eve of World Refugee Day.
Egypt: Authorities must end campaign of mass arrests and forced return of Sudanese refugees
Egyptian authorities must immediately cease the mass arbitrary arrests and unlawful deportations of Sudanese refugees who have crossed the border into Egypt to seek safe haven from the ongoing conflict in Sudan, said Amnesty International in a new report released today on the eve of World Refugee Day.
The report, titled ‘Handcuffed as if we were dangerous criminals’: Arbitrary Detention and Refoulement of Sudanese Refugees in Egypt how Sudanese refugees are being illegally arrested and deported to conflict-ridden Sudan without due process or any opportunity to seek asylum, in flagrant violation of international law. Evidence shows that thousands of Sudanese refugees have been arbitrarily arrested and deported en masse; the UNHCR estimates that 3,000 people were deported from Egypt to Sudan in September 2023 alone.
Sarah Hashash, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for the Middle East and North Africa, said: “It is incomprehensible that Sudanese women, men and children who crossed the border to flee the armed conflict in their country and seek safety in Egypt are being arbitrarily arrested, detained in poor and inhumane conditions, and unlawfully deported.”
Sarah Hashash added: “The Egyptian authorities must immediately put an end to this insidious campaign of mass arrests and mass deportations. “They should fulfill their obligations under international human rights and refugee law to ensure that those fleeing the conflict in Sudan have safe and dignified transit to Egypt and unfettered access to asylum procedures.
Egyptian authorities should immediately put an end to this vicious campaign of mass arrests and mass deportations.” Sarah Hashash, deputy director of the Middle East and North Africa Regional Office
For several decades, Egypt has been home to millions of Sudanese who study, work, invest, or receive health care there. Sudanese women and girls, Sudanese boys under 16 and men over 49 are exempt from entry requirements. It is estimated that around 500,000 Sudanese refugees fled to Egypt following the outbreak of armed conflict in Sudan in April 2023. But in the following months, the Egyptian government imposed a visa requirement on all Sudanese citizens before coming to Egypt, forcing those fleeing the conflict to flee through irregular border crossings.
The report documents in detail the plight of 27 Sudanese refugees who, along with about 260 others, were arbitrarily detained by Defense Ministry border guards and Interior Ministry police forces between October 2023 and March 2024. It also documents how the authorities forcibly returned at least 800 Sudanese detainees between January and March 2024, all of whom were denied the possibility of seeking asylum, including access to the UNHCR, or challenging their deportation decisions.
The report is based on interviews with detained refugees, their relatives, Sudanese community leaders, lawyers and medical professionals, as well as reviewing official data and documents and examining audiovisual evidence. Egypt’s defense and interior ministries did not respond to Amnesty International’s letters outlining its documentation findings and recommendations; the National Council for Human Rights, the national human rights institution, rejected the findings, claiming that the authorities are fulfilling their international obligations.
The sharp escalation in mass arrests and deportations followed an August 2023 prime ministerial decree requiring foreigners residing in Egypt to regularize their status and legalize their residency. The decision coincided with a rise in racist and xenophobic rhetoric, both online and in the media, as well as statements by government officials criticizing the “burden” of hosting “millions” of refugees.
The campaign also came against the backdrop of increased cooperation between the EU and Egypt on migration and border control, despite Egypt’s abysmal human rights record and well-documented abuses against migrants and refugees.
In October 2022, the EU and Egypt signed an €80 million cooperation agreement, which includes capacity building for Egyptian border guards to combat irregular migration and human trafficking across Egypt’s borders. The agreement claims to apply “rights-based, protection-oriented and gender-sensitive approaches”. However, Amnesty International’s new report documents the involvement of border guards in abuses against Sudanese refugees.
In March 2024, another package of aid and investments, with migration as one of its main pillars, was agreed upon as part of a newly announced strategic and comprehensive partnership between the EU and Egypt.
By cooperating with Egypt on migration without strict human rights safeguards, the EU risks complicity in Egypt’s human rights violations.
Sarah Hashash said: “By cooperating with Egypt on migration without strict human rights safeguards, the EU risks complicity in Egypt’s human rights violations. “The EU should put pressure on the Egyptian authorities to take concrete measures to protect refugees and migrants.
Sarah Hashash said: “Before implementing any migration cooperation, the EU must also conduct rigorous human rights risk assessments and establish independent monitoring mechanisms with clear human rights standards. “If there are risks or reports of violations, any cooperation should be halted or suspended immediately.
Arbitrary arrests in the streets and hospitals
The majority of the mass arrests took place in Greater Cairo (which includes Cairo and Giza), and in border areas in Aswan governorate or within Aswan city. In Cairo and Giza, police conducted mass stops and identity checks, targeting black individuals, which instilled a sense of fear among refugees and made many reluctant to leave their homes.
After Sudanese refugees are arrested by police in Aswan, they are transferred to police stations or the Central Security Forces camp, an informal detention facility, in the Shallal area. Those arrested by border guards in Aswan governorate are held in temporary detention facilities, including warehouses inside a military post in Abu Simbel and a horse stable inside another military post near the village of Nagaa al-Krour, and then forced onto buses and trucks that take them to the Sudanese border.
The conditions in these detention facilities are characterized by cruelty and inhumanity, severe overcrowding, lack of access to toilets and sanitation facilities, inadequate and poor quality food, and denial of adequate health care.
Amnesty International also documented the arrest of at least 14 refugees while they were in government hospitals in Aswan, where they were receiving medical treatment for serious injuries sustained in traffic accidents during their journeys from Sudan to Egypt. The authorities transferred them – against doctors’ advice and before they had fully recovered – to detention facilities where they were forced to sleep on the floor after their surgeries.
Amira, a 32-year-old Sudanese woman who fled Khartoum with her mother, was receiving medical treatment at an Aswan hospital following a car crash on October 29, 2023 that left her with a broken neck and back. Noura, a relative of Amira, told the organization that doctors told her she needed three months of medical care, but after only 18 days police transferred her to an Aswan police station where she was forced to sleep on the floor for about 10 days.
Detention in cold, rat-infested facilities before mass deportation
Amnesty International’s Evidence Lab examined photographs and verified videos from January 2024 of women and children sitting on a filthy floor amid garbage in a warehouse controlled by Egypt’s Border Guard forces. Former detainees said the warehouses were infested with rats and pigeon nests, and described how detainees had to endure the cold at night without proper clothing or blankets. The men’s detention warehouse was severely overcrowded, with more than 100 detainees crammed together, and had limited access to overflowing toilets, forcing them to urinate in plastic bottles during the night.
At least 11 children, some under the age of four, were detained with their mothers in these locations.
Esraa, who suffers from asthma, told Amnesty International that guards at the overcrowded horse stable near the village of Nagaa al-Karour ignored her request for an inhaler, even when she asked them to buy it at her own expense.
After periods of detention, ranging from a few days to six weeks, police and border guards handcuffed the detainees and transferred them to the Qastal-Ashkit border crossing, where they were handed over to the Sudanese authorities, without an individualized assessment of their risk of serious human rights violations if returned to Sudan. None of the deportees had the opportunity to seek asylum, even in the case of refugees who had appointments to register with UNHCR, or who requested access to UNHCR or petitioned not to be returned. Such cases of refoulement violate Egypt’s international obligations under international human rights and refugee law, including the principle of non-refoulement.
Border Guard forces deported Ahmed, his wife, and their two-year-old daughter, part of a group of about 200 detainees, on February 26, 2024, after detaining them for six days at the Abu Simbel military post.
Since the start of the conflict in Sudan, Egyptian authorities have failed to provide statistical data or acknowledge their deportation policy.
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