Egyptian authorities prepare 24 Eritrean nationals for deportation

Egyptian authorities appear to be preparing to deport 24 Eritrean asylum-seekers in Egypt, including children, as soon as tomorrow afternoon, two sources told Mada Masr.

Among them are at least five minors, including one girl with a two-week-old baby she gave birth to while in detention, along with at least three other minors.

Eritrean nationals face severe penalties including death sentences or life imprisonment if they are found to have left the country unlawfully or to have fled conscription, which is mandatory for both men and women over the age of 15 during a time of war. A war between Eritrea and Ethiopia that began in 1998 was only officially brought to a conclusion in 2018.

Eritrean nationals have twice been deported from Egypt this year.

Twenty-one of the asylum-seekers were among a larger group transferred to detention facilities in the 15th of May area of Greater Cairo last week from the Daraw Police Station in Aswan Governorate.

All 24 were obliged to sign travel documents at the Eritrean embassy ​over the last week, a member of the Eritrean community in Egypt told Mada Masr on condition of anonymity. All 24 were taken to undergo PCR testing on Wednesday afternoon prior to being moved to Cairo airport. They could be held at detention facilities at the airport, said the source, before being deported to Eritrea on a flight bound for Asmara on Thursday afternoon.

The source said that they are trying to secure deportation to a third country to avoid the group from being returned to Eritrea, and that they spoke on Wednesday with officials at the Eritrean embassy who promised to speak with the Egyptian Foreign Ministry, and with officials at the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees' Protection Concerns Department to seek help with securing their resettlement in a third country. 

Mada Masr contacted the UNHCR office in Egypt, whose media officer, Radwa Sharaf, replied that “the commission is aware of the situation, and we are following up with the competent authorities,” adding “to protect the people concerned, the commission does not comment on individual cases. We will share the information when we can.”

Following arrests that took place between 2019 and 2021, around 200 Eritrean asylum seekers, including at least 40 children, have been held in poor conditions in detention facilities in Aswan, according to the Refugees’ Platform in Egypt. None of them have been tried.

The Egyptian authorities forcibly deported 15 Eritreans during October and November, and threatened, in September, to deport two people detained in Qanater Men's Prison, one of whom has been held for more than nine years.