250 Sudanese detainees released

Late on Wednesday afternoon 250 Sudanese detainees were released in Cairo, following intensive negotiations between the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, and the Egyptian government. “They’re releasing 250 women, children and Darfurians,” said Astrid van Genderen Stort, spokeswoman for the UNHCR in Cairo. Seventy-seven of the newly released detainees are women, 104 children and 69 originate from the war-torn region of Darfur in western Sudan. “There are around 180 detainees left in the prisons,” said van Genderen Stort. The Sudanese have been in detention since 29 December, when Egyptian security forces carried out a massive operation to evacuate the site of a three-month-long protest staged by up to 3,000 refugees, asylum seekers and failed asylum seekers in a square in central Cairo. The protestors’ chief demand was resettlement in a third country. Twenty-seven Sudanese were killed in the ensuing violence. Following the violence, up to 2,500 protestors were reportedly detained, of whom some 1,500 were set free soon afterwards, once their documentation proved that they were registered with UNHCR as refugees or as asylum seekers. Earlier this week a further 165 detainees were released, after UNHCR verified that they too were legitimate refugees or asylum seekers. Financial grants of US $52 have been secured for each adult, while children will receive US $33 from UNHCR. UNHCR is continuing to assess the protestors’ legal status. “We now have until 26 January to conduct status determination interviews,” van Genderen Stort said. The refugee agency has requested the Egyptian authorities not to deport the protestors, citing humanitarian grounds. It has also requested the immediate release of all women, children and Darfurians. Despite media reports claiming otherwise, however, the agency had not received any assurances from the government that there would be no deportations, said van Genderen Stort. Egyptian government spokespeople say that, for the moment, no one will be repatriated. Ashraf Shiha, an official at the African affairs department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said that the government is currently cooperating with Khartoum on the issue. He added that repatriation would be voluntary and would depend upon coordination between the Sudanese government and the would-be asylum seekers in Egypt. Meanwhile, an investigation is reportedly ongoing into the police violence. “We understand that Egyptian authorities continue to investigate the December incident and we support the need for that,” said a statement from UNHCR. The agency reiterated its support for due process under Egyptian law for the Sudanese and said it would continue to provide legal aid to any persons who were formally charged.