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“Young Eritrean refugees in Sudan. Many Eritreans arriving in Egypt come via Sudan.” UNHCR
Cairo — Egyptian activists are calling on the government to take action to save African asylum-seekers from what they call the “systematic torture” they are being subjected to by their Bedouin captors in the Sinai peninsula who demand thousands of dollars in ransom.
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According to some estimates, hundreds of African asylum-seekers cross into Israel every month from Egypt, getting help from what some rights advocates describe as “international human trafficking rings” which start in the Horn of Africa and end at the Egypt-Israel border.
Rights groups say around 200 of these asylum-seekers – mostly from Eritrea – are held in the Sinai desert and face torture and rape, with their captors demanding money before they are allowed into Israel.
The Egyptian foreign minister, however, on 12 December dismissed such reports as “mere claims” and even accused the organizations which issue them of attempting to tarnish Egypt’s image.
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