Egypt arrests seven African migrants

  1. Posted on Thursday 7 October 2010 - 10:30
    KingsleyKobo
    Image of KingsleyKobo
    Kingsley Kobo, AfricaNews reporter in Abidjan, Ivory Coast
    Seven African nationals were arrested by Egyptian security forces on Wednesday while attempting to illegally cross the border from Egypt's Sinai Peninsula into Israel.
    Egypt: Seven African migrants arrested near Israeli border
    The clandestine group was spotted near the border by a police patrol early Wednesday, and was arrested after Police fired warning shots into the air, Reuters said.

    Authorities identified four to be from Sudan and three from Ethiopia.

    The migrants revealed to Police they had paid smugglers to help them enter Israel, where they hoped to find jobs.

    Thousands of African and other migrants have entered Israel through its porous border with Egypt over the last few years.

    Human rights organizations have often blasted Egypt for frequently shooting and killing migrants in order to prevent them from crossing the border. Egyptian border police killed nine African migrants in 2009.

    The Egypt-Israel border is 255 kilometre-long, which is guarded by 750 Egyptian policemen, as stipulated by the 1979 Camp David accords between Egypt and Israel.

    Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in January ordered the construction of a fence along two segments of the border, in an attempt to check the infiltration of migrant workers as well as of terrorist elements into Israel.

Latest News

  1. OPINION: Welcome to African Green Revolution24/05For the past century and a half, Africa has tried various agricultural approaches without much success.
  2. Egyptians vote in historic election23/05Egyptians began voting freely on Wednesday for the first time to pick their president in a wide open election that pits Islamists against men who serv…
  3. Africa Day 2012 - a moment for reflection and…22/0525th May is Africa Day. For many years it has been a celebration of African unity. It dates back to 1963 when the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) …
  4. South Africa's African agenda21/05The Deputy President of the Republic of South Africa, Kgalema Mothlanthe paid a rare visit to Ghana in April at the invitation of John Dramani Mahama …
  5. Women struggle to rinse hunger, poverty stains21/05Just looking at her one clearly appreciates that she is old and frail therefore in need of support for food, clothing and shelter to live comfortably …
  6. Climate Climate change affects migratory birds…21/05Changes in the climate globally have affected the movement of both migratory and resident species of birds, Nature Uganda has said.
  7. Ghana: Foreign retailers cited for currency…18/05The Ghana Union of Traders Association (GUTA) is attributing the sharp depreciation of the Ghana cedi against major currencies to the illegal activiti…
  8. Kenya: Community radio brings succour to…18/05Korogocho, a slum in northeastern Nairobi with 100,000 inhabitants, had many of the ingredients for a political explosion similar to those that rocked…
  9. Veld fires 'flame' Zimbabwe's…16/05Over the years, Zimbabwe has experienced the scourge of veld fires destroying property worth thousands of dollars.
  10. Liberia commends ECOWAS for support14/05The induction training of pioneer Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Volunteers for Liberia kicked off in Monrovia, with the Deputy Mi…
  11. Vanishing Lake Chad puts 30m lives at risk14/05As you approach the Lake Chad basin from Maiduguri, in north-eastern Nigeria, the evidence of despair is telling.
  12. Heavy rains cause havoc in Kenya14/05Heavy Rainfall continued to wreak havoc across the country leading to the suspension of relief food in some parts of the country as most roads in Turk…
  13. Zimbabwe: Growth points lie dormant14/05The Zimbabwean government mooted the concept of growth points in the 1980s as a means of decongesting cities and towns.
  14. Sierra Leone improves in infant mortality11/05Sierra Leone has improved in infant mortality cases according to Save the Children- World Motherhood index 2012 report. The West Africa country descri…
  15. Zimbabwe: Resettled farmers fail to utilize…10/05Resettled farmers in Zimbabwe are failing to utilize land due to inadequate farming inputs and lack of resources.
News archive