Egypt set to deport 77 Sudanese caught while trying to cross to Israel

August 20, 2016 (KHARTOUM) – Egyptian authorities on Saturday have decided to deport 77 Sudanese nationals who were trying to cross from Egypt into Israel.

Sudan’s Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Gharib Allah Khidir said Egyptian authorities have arrested a group of Sudanese migrants while they were trying to sneak into Israel, pointing they were sent to Al-Qanater prison in Cairo.

Khidir told the official news agency (SUNA) that 77 Sudanese were imprisoned in Egyptian jails, saying the Sudanese embassy in Cairo is in constant contacts with the Egyptian security authorities to check on their conditions.

For his part, Sudanese ambassador to Cairo Abdel-Mahmoud Abdel-Halim told Sudan Tribune that the Egyptian authorities decided to deport the 77 Sudanese nationals.

“We expressed to the Egyptian authorities our utmost attention about the safety of these [Sudanese nationals] and we work within the embassy to determine the next move” he sid.

He added that the embassy would dispatch a delegation to meet the detainees, saying they will issue travel documents for those who don’t have passports before they were deported to Sudan.

Hundreds of Sudanese refugees, many from the war-wracked Darfur region, have crossed the desert border from Egypt into Israel in recent years.

Last November, Egyptian border guards killed six illegal Sudanese migrants and arrested 26 others in Sinai Peninsula near Israel boarders.

(ST)