Eritrean Refugees Detained in Northern Sudan: A Call for Action

Rome, September 14th, 2011. EveryOne Group is calling for urgent action to be taken by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the European Commissioner for Human Rights, the Rapporteur on the EU Refugee Resettlement Program, the President of the African Union and Sudan’s Minister of Interior to defend the human rights of 317 Eritrean refugees being held in northern Sudan.

The Eritreans, including 4 children and 75 women, were arrested as they crossed the border with Egypt in an attempt to reach Israel.

Sudan Detains Hundreds of Eritreans on the Egyptian Border

KHARTOUM, Sept 12th (Reuters) – On Monday the Sudanese authorities detained 317 Eritreans who were trying to cross the border to Egypt, most of them attempting to reach Israel, Sudanese police said.

The Eritreans, including 75 women and 4 children, were detained in northern Sudan 30 kilometres from the Egyptian border, a police spokesman said.Most of them had planned to make their way through Egypt to Israel, he said.Eritrea, a poor African country, lies east of Sudan. Many Eritreans work in Sudan or cross the country illegally in order to reach Europe or Israel.

(Reported by Khaled Abdelaziz; written by Ulf Laessing)