Egypt arrests 70 Eritrean migrants

March 23, 2008 (CAIRO) — Egyptian security forces have arrested 70 illegal Eritrean migrants in the extreme south of the country near the border with Sudan, the official MENA news agency reported on Sunday.

The group was discovered south of the Red Sea resort of Hurghuda, where they will be referred to a “special court,” MENA said.

The migrants “have been subjected to medical examinations over fears they were carrying diseases,” the agency said.

In recent months Egypt has arrested dozens of illegal immigrants, most of them Africans trying to sneak into Israel from Egypt’s Sinai peninsula. Several have been killed while trying to make the crossing.

Earlier Sunday, 13 migrants from Eritrea, Sudan, Ghana and the Ivory Coast were detained as they attempted to enter Israel illegally in search of work, a security official told AFP.

“Seven of them were taken to El-Arish hospital in north Sinai suspected of being ill with a contagious disease,” the official said, refusing to elaborate.

The 250-kilometre (155-mile) Egyptian-Israeli border has become a major transit route for migrants and asylum-seekers.

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees said earlier this month that more than 1,500 Africans, mostly from Eritrea, have entered Israel illegally through Egypt since the start of the year.

(AFP)