Egypt arrests two Sudanese trying to enter Israel

July 23, 2007 (RAFAH, Egypt) — Egyptian border guards arrested today two Sudanese attempting infiltrate into Israel via the international borders south of the southern Rafah checkpoint.

They were chased down; one of them was wounded before their arrest, the official MENA reported.

People smugglers, who fired at the police during the chase, had promised to help them enter Israel in exchange for money.

The two were identified as Osama Mousa Abqar, 33, and Naji Mohamed Abqar, 28. The smugglers fled.

Egyptian authorities have long accused Sinai inhabitants of smuggling weapons, drugs and people across the border into Israel and the Gaza Strip.

The injured was taken to Arish Hospital for treatment.

They admitted in the preliminary interrogations that they had come to the area to cross into Israel to find jobs there.

A Sudanese woman was shot dead by Egyptian police on Sunday as she and a group of African migrants tried to cross illegally into Israel from Egypt on Sunday July 22.

The Egypt-Israel border has become a major transit route for Sudanese migrants and asylum-seekers.

Many Sudanese find life difficult in Egypt, a country that struggles to provide jobs and social services for a growing refugee population.

(ST)