Egypt forcibly deporting Sudanese refugees: Amnesty

Thousands of Sudanese refugees in Egypt have been arbitrarily arrested and collectively expelled back to their war-torn country in violation of international law, a new report by Amnesty International has found.

The Amnesty report supports the conclusions of an earlier investigation by The New Humanitarian and the Refugees Platform in Egypt, which looked into how the deportation system is operating, the facilities being used for detention, and how refugees are mistreated.

“It is unfathomable that Sudanese women, men and children fleeing the armed conflict in their country and seeking safety across the border into Egypt, are being rounded up en masse and arbitrarily detained in deplorable and inhumane conditions before being unlawfully deported,” said Sara Hashash, Amnesty International’s deputy regional director for the Middle East and North Africa.

More than half a million Sudanese have crossed into Egypt during the more than year-long war between the Sudanese army and its former ally, the powerful paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) group. Nearly 10 million people have been uprooted by the conflict overall.

The Amnesty International report details the ordeals of 27 Sudanese refugees who were arbitrarily arrested by Egypt’s border guard and police units, and documents the forcible return of an estimated 800 Sudanese detainees. The report says deportations were carried out without due process or an opportunity for refugees to claim asylum.

The precise number of Sudanese arrested and deported from Egypt is not known because the Egyptian government does not provide statistics, the rights group said.

The pushbacks are being carried out as the EU has pledged billions of dollars to Cairo in exchange for the government curtailing migration to Europe, a deal that could make European countries complicit in the abuses taking place.

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