نداء عاجل: إتصل بممثلك في الكونجرس من أجل السودانين في مصر

Quote: Protest Egypt's Forcible Return of Refugees to Sudan Dear Colleague, We hope you will join us on a letter to Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak asking that he investigate reports of Egypt forcibly deporting Sudanese refugees and asylum seekers back to Sudan. According to Human Rights Watch, on April 19, 2008 Egyptian authorities deported to southern Sudan approximately 30 Sudanese men and boys. The office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Egypt had recognized at least 11 of them as refugees or asylum seekers. At least two of the deportees were 17-year-old children. The wife of one deportee told Human Rights Watch that here husband had called her on may 13th and said he and other were being detained in Kobar prison in Juba, in southern Sudan, and could face trial. Cairo police arrested approximately 30 men and boys after Sudanese ganggs from the city's Ma'adi and Ain Shams neighborhoods were accused of damaging cars during a fight on February 8, 2008. Authorities renewed 15-day detention orders against the group until March 24th, when a judge ordered them released on bail. The following day, state security prosecutors appealed the release and charged the men with illegally entering the country, unauthorized public assembly, and threatening public security. The case was transferred to a state security prosecution office and detention orders renewed. The men and boys were due to attend another court hearing on May 6th. When relatives went to visit them in detention at the Bab el-Khalq appeals prison in Cairo in late April, prison officials told them the group had been deported. Gang rivalries are a growing problem among Sudanese youth in Cairo and appear to be at the root of the fight that broke out on February 8th. However, it appears that many of those detained were neither gang members nor present at the scene of the fight, and that police apparently arrested them simply because they appeared to be Sudanese. One deportee is a recognized refugee who had been teaching English in a Cairo school. At least four of the deportees had UNHCR protection documents recognizing them as refugees. Five other deportees had UNHCR file numbers recognzing them as refugees or asylum seekers. Among the deportees was a 17-year-old refugee who had been provisionally approved for resettlement to Canada. These deportations follow a series of troubling reports regarding forcible deportation of refugees, in particular Sudanese and Eritreans, back to countries either in the midst of civil unrest or conflict, or where they might face persecution by local authorities. In addition, there have been several reports of Egyptian security and border police firing on refugees at border crossings. We hope you will join us in calling on President Mubarak to look into these matters and in expressing concern about the deportation of Sudanese and other refugees. To sign onto the letter, please contact Cindy Buhl at 5-6101 (McGovern). The deadline is Wednesday, June 25th. James P. McGovern John W. Olver Member of Congress Member of Congress --------------------------------------------------- The Honorable Hosni Mubarak President Republic of Egypt Cairo, Egypt Dear President Mubarak, We write to express our deep concern regarding reports that in April, Egypt forcibly deported a group of Sudanese, including refugees and asylum seekers, to Sudan. It is our understanding that the deportations took place after Sudanese youths in Cairo had damaged cars during a fight, but according to reports by international human rights organizations, it appears that many of those deported were simply rounded up by police and were not responsible for the damage. Even if some of those deported were responsible, we find it unacceptable that Egypt would send refugees back to the country from which they fled persecution as a punishment for damaging property. Returning refugees to a situation of grave risk for any reason whatsoever violates Egypt’s basic obligations under international refugee, human rights, and humanitarian law. We are concerned that other recent events have undermined Egypt’s reputation as a country of refuge for millions of Sudanese and others. Since July 22, 2007, Egyptian police on the Sinai border have killed at least 20 people from Sudan, Eritrea and other countries as they tried to transit from Egypt across the border into Israel. After Israel returned a group of 48 border-crossers back to Egypt on August 18, 2007, Egypt denied the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees’ (UNHCR) repeated requests for access to the group. Egypt reportedly deported up to 20 of them back to Sudan, even though the Sudanese government has said it regards those who flee to Israel as traitors. Since February of this year, Egyptian authorities have also denied UNHCR access to hundreds of Eritreans in detention for entering Egypt through unauthorized border crossings, leading to fears that potential refugees from Eritrea could face deportation. There were unconfirmed reports that on June 12, 2008, Egypt returned over 100 Eritreans from Aswan to Eritrea. We respectfully request that you look into this matter, Mr. President, and share with us your findings and your plans to prevent deportations of refugees from occurring again. We are very aware of the pressures on Egypt to absorb refugee populations. We hope that Egypt will lead other countries in the region and globally with an example of humane practices toward refugee populations that comply with international standards and best practices. Sincerely, Members of Congress Jon Niedzielski District Director Congressman John W. Olver, MA 01 57 Suffolk Street, Suite 310 Holyoke, MA 01040 413-532-7010 fax: 413-532-6543 [email protected] www.house.gov/olver