South Sudan demands probe into Cairo refugee deaths

Jan 31, 2006 (CAIRO) — The South Sudan government is sending a delegation to Egypt to demand a probe into the deaths of 27 Sudanese when police broke up a protest in Cairo, the state-run SUNA news agency reported.

It said the delegation would leave in the coming days with a message from southern leader and Sudanese First Vice President Salva Kiir to Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.

“The message contains demands for an investigation into the incident involving the Sudanese refugees and stresses the need for those found responsible to be tried and punished, whether from the security services or the UNHCR,” the agency said.

Thousands of riot police wielding batons and a water cannon broke up a three-month sit-in in front of the UN refugee agency’s offices in central Cairo on December 30, killing at least 27 Sudanese refugees and asylum-seekers, including women and children.

Up to 2,000 Sudanese refugees and asylum-seekers had been demonstrating to demand the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) review their cases and consider their requests for resettlement in a third country.

Many of them were from southern Sudan, where a two-decade civil war with Khartoum ended in January 2005. The refugees argued the security situation remained volatile and refused to be repatriated.

(ST/AFP)