CAIRO: Egyptian border police arrested 7 African migrants along the lengthy desert border with Israel on Saturday in the most recent crackdown against attempts by Africans to enter the Jewish state. It comes as the United Nations and international rights groups continue to push Egypt to end its violent policies along the border. According to police, warning shots were fired in the air before four Ethiopians and three Eritreans, in two separate incidents, were arrested. Police added that each person had paid $1,000 to Bedouin smugglers in their attempt to cross into Israel. Earlier this month, police shot and seriously wounded an Ethiopian man and arrested another 7 people attempting to cross the border, sparking outrage from the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay. “I know of no other country where so many unarmed migrants and asylum-seekers appear to have been deliberately killed in this way by government forces,†Pillay said in a statement issued by his office on March 2. “It is a deplorable state of affairs, and the sheer number of victims suggests that at least some Egyptian security officials have been operating a shoot-to-kill policy,†Pillay noted, adding the death toll could “hardly be an accident.†The majority of those killed come from Sub-Saharan African nations, the UN said, and the shootings have taken place after an agreement between Egypt and Israel was brokered in 2007 to toughen border controls along the Sinai desert. According to Pillay security forces “are only permitted to use lethal force when it is strictly unavoidable in order to protect life,†and the killings in Sinai required an independent investigation. Ruper Colville, a spokesman for Pillay, told reporters in Geneva that the UN commissioner’s office was in direct contact with the Egyptian government concerning the matter. The UN also said that while they have documented 60 deaths along the border, others are still missing and have been unaccounted for by both Egyptian police and human rights groups. International and local rights groups have condemned the violence along the border, arguing that the migrants do not pose a security risk. New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) has been outspoken on the use of violence, saying the Egyptian government should end its “shoot to stop policy.†But Cairo has pressed on with using force. Earlier this year, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu revealed plans to build a barrier along its border with Egypt, saying he aimed to secure Israel’s “Jewish and democratic character.†Israel, he added, cannot allow “thousands of illegal workers to infiltrate Israel via the southern border and flood our country.†Africans living in Egypt have long complained of poor conditions, a lack of employment opportunities, racism and difficulty in securing education for their children. BM
