From: Berhane Habtemariam (Berhane.Habtemariam@gmx.de)
Date: Tue Sep 15 2009 - 10:39:34 EDT
Egypt Defends Killing of Migrants Trying to Cross Into Israel
By Daniel Williams
Sept. 15 (Bloomberg) -- In the face of international human rights criticism
of recent killings, Egypt's <http://www.mfa.gov.eg> Foreign Ministry said
the deaths of African migrants trying to cross from the Sinai peninsula into
Israel are justified for security reasons.
Four migrants were killed trying to enter Israel July 9, bringing the death
toll in the Sinai to 12 since May.
"Dealing with these migrants is for Egyptian national security and the
safety of its forces and Egypt's international commitment to fight
smuggling," Foreign Ministry spokesman
<http://search.bloomberg.com/search?q=Hossam+Zaki&site=wnews&client=wnews&pr
oxystylesheet=wnews&output=xml_no_dtd&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&filter=p&getfields=w
nnis&sort=date:D:S:d1> Hossam Zaki said in a statement today. "Egyptian
guards only fire in the direction of the migrants when they refuse to stop
in this sensitive area of the borders."
On Sept. 10, <http://www.hrw.org> Human Rights Watch, the New York-based
monitoring group, called on Egypt to "bring an immediate end to the unlawful
killings of migrants and asylum seekers."
"Egypt has every right to manage its borders, but using routine lethal force
against unarmed migrants -- and potential asylum-seekers -- would be a
serious violation of the right to life,"
<http://search.bloomberg.com/search?q=Joe+Stork&site=wnews&client=wnews&prox
ystylesheet=wnews&output=xml_no_dtd&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&filter=p&getfields=wnn
is&sort=date:D:S:d1> Joe Stork, deputy HRW Middle East director, said in a
statement. "These individuals appeared to pose no threat to the lives of
border guards or anyone else. Attempted border crossings are not a capital
offense."
Migrant traffic through Egypt to Israel largely originates in Sudan,
Ethiopia and Eritrea, all beset by warfare in recent years, said
<http://search.bloomberg.com/search?q=Gasser+Abdel+Razek&site=wnews&client=w
news&proxystylesheet=wnews&output=xml_no_dtd&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&filter=p&getf
ields=wnnis&sort=date:D:S:d1> Gasser Abdel Razek, Egypt country director for
<http://www.amera-uk.org/> Africa and Middle East Refugee Assistance, a
U.K.-based legal aid group. "They are heading to Israel because they think
they can get better consideration for political asylum than in Egypt," he
said in an interview in Cairo.
Israel Criticized
Human Rights Watch said that Egyptian security forces killed 33 migrants at
the border between July 2007 and October 2008. HRW also criticized Israel,
saying it was "forcibly returning to Egypt, in violation of international
refugee law, some migrants who do make it across the border."
Since February 2008, Israel has deported thousands of African migrants to
Egypt on grounds they are economic and not political refugees, according to
media reports from Israel.
Last month, smugglers ferrying migrants to Israel killed an Egyptian
policeman at the border, Egypt's Foreign Ministry said. On Sept. 9, the
independent Cairo newspaper <http://www.almasry-alyoum.com> Al-Masry
Al-Youm quoted North Sinai Governor Muhammed Shousha as saying of the
refugees, "Firing at them is only normal. When an infiltrator is spotted, he
has to be fired at. If the soldier asks the infiltrator to stop, he normally
won't be obeyed. That's why there has to be the use of force by those
responsible."
To contact the reporter on this story:
<http://search.bloomberg.com/search?q=Daniel+Williams&site=wnews&client=wnew
s&proxystylesheet=wnews&output=xml_no_dtd&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&filter=p&getfiel
ds=wnnis&sort=date:D:S:d1> Daniel Williams in Cairo at
<mailto:dwilliams41@bloomberg.net> dwilliams41@bloomberg.net.
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