Egyptian police kill Sudanese migrant at Israel border

July 20, 2008 (ISMAILIA) — Egyptian police shot dead a Sudanese man at the Israel border on Sunday as he tried to slip into the Jewish state, bringing to 17 the number of African migrants killed there this year, security sources said.

Police killed the migrant after he ignored orders to stop and instead tried to flee toward Israel, the sources said. Another seven Sudanese were also arrested in a separate attempt to cross the border.

“Sudanese man Abdel-Wahab Abdel-Karim Ahmed Adam, age 32, was killed after being shot in the chest as he tried to sneak into Israel over a border point in central Sinai,” one of the sources said.

Border violence has escalated since Egypt launched a crackdown on African migrants in recent months. At least 17 Africans have been killed at the border this year, and Egypt deported up to 1,000 Eritrean asylum seekers in June despite U.N. protests.

This month, gunmen shot dead an Egyptian police officer who tried to stop them from helping the migrants cross the border, and police shot dead an Egyptian smuggler last week. In June alone, police killed three African men and a 7-year-old Sudanese girl at the sensitive frontier.

Amnesty International says thousands of migrants try to cross into the Jewish state from Egypt each year, with numbers rising since 2007.

The migrants are seeking work or asylum away from conflict at home and harsh living conditions in Egypt, where activists say African migrants face economic marginalisation and racism.

(Reuters)