CAIRO: A Sudanese migrant was shot and killed on Sunday by Egyptian police as he tried to cross the lengthy desert border illegally into Israel, security officials said. His death comes as human rights groups and activists continue to call on Cairo to end the shooting of unarmed refugees and migrants along the Sinai border with the Jewish state. Adam Ali Mohammed, 39, reportedly died of gunshot wounds at a hospital in al-Arish after three bullets hit him in the stomach and chest. “Police had ordered the man to stop, but when he didn't, they were forced to shoot,” an official was quoted as saying by local reports. Dozens of Africans have been shot dead by Egyptian police in recent years, as refugees and migrants continue to complain of poor treatment and conditions inside Egypt. They believe that in Israel there are more job opportunities and a better life. On March 29, 2010, the border guards shot dead an Eritrean migrant and wounded two others as they tried to cross the Sinai border into Israel. In addition, unnamed Egyptian security sources told Reuters that Egyptian police had shot dead two African migrants, wounded five others, and arrested three more on March 27, also at Egypt's border with Israel. In response to criticism over the fatal shootings, the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated in a news release that “the number of deaths in these incidents did not exceed 2 percent in 2008 and 4 percent in 2009 of the total number of migrants attempting to cross.” However, most observers argue this number is way too long and the ministry is simply hiding the real number of those who have been killed along the border. BM
