UNHCR urging Egypt to intervene to secure release of Eritreans held hostage
This is a summary of what was said by UNHCR spokesperson Adrian Edwards – to whom quoted text may be attributed – at today's press briefing at the Palais des Nations in Geneva.
UNHCR is concerned about a group of some 250 Eritreans who have been held hostage for about a month by traffickers in the Sinai, Egypt.
UNHCR has very limited information about this group. We have noted media reports that the traffickers are demanding payments of US$8,000 per person for their release, that people are being held in containers and are subject to abuses, and that some may have been held for months.
We are, at this time, in contact with the Egyptian government over this matter. Egypt's Ministry of Interior has assured us that around the clock efforts are underway to locate the hostages and release them.
Every year thousands of people attempt to cross the border from Egypt into Israel, and often in the hands of bedouin traffickers who have little regard for their safety. While many are migrants, some originate from refugee-producing countries, including Eritrea. UNHCR's eligibility guidelines consider that most Eritreans fleeing their country should be considered as refugees.
UNHCR has been advocating with the Egyptian authorities for access to people who are detained in the course of making this journey, with a view to being able to determine those among them who are refugees and in need of international protection.
Related news and stories
Twelve years on, Syrian refugees face deepening debt and hunger
Following peace efforts, UNHCR's Grandi urges support and solutions for refugees and displaced in Ethiopia
Tigray peace deal restores hope for Ethiopia's displaced
Northern Ethiopia peace deal restores hope for displaced
Displaced people from climate frontlines raise their voices at COP27
UN Refugee Agency warns of extreme hardship for forcibly displaced families this winter
Your search for « sinai » matched 73 results. Displaying page 1 of 9 pages.
-
Refugees and the Rashaida: human smuggling and trafficking from Eritrea to Sudan and Egypt. Rachel Humphris
Mar 2013 ... One route, from East Sudan to Egypt, the Sinai desert and Israel has gained increasing attention. According to UNHCR statistics, the number of Eritreans crossing the border from Sinai to Israel has ...... -
UNHCR urging Egypt to intervene to secure release of Eritreans held hostage
7 Dec 2010 ... UNHCR is concerned about a group of some 250 Eritreans who have been held hostage for about a month by traffickers in the Sinai, Egypt. UNHCR has very limited information about this group. We have ...... -
UNHCR Global Appeal 2012-2013 - Egypt
1 Dec 2011 ... Egypt is a refugee-receiving as well as transit country, often for irregular movements, particularly from sub-Saharan countries through the North Sinai. Addressing the challenges posed by these ...... -
UNHCR Global Appeal 2011 (update) - Egypt
1 Dec 2010 ... a framework agreement signed with the Government in 1954. Egypt is both a refugee-receiving and a transit country, often for irregular movements of people, in particular through the northern Sinai. ...... -
UNHCR appeals to Israel over forced relocations policy
9 Jan 2018 ... All had entered Israel via the Sinai. In every case they reported torture, mistreatment and extortion before reaching Israel. Most said they had been transferred from Israel to a country in Africa and ...... -
Ordered disorder: African asylum seekers in Israel and discursive challenges to an emerging refugee regime. Yonathan Paz
8 Mar 2011 ... ... No data available for 2003. UNHCR has not yet published data for 2010. The Sinai desert serves as a ... London: UCL Press. HRW. (2008) Human Rights Watch. Sinai Perils: Risks to Migrants, Refugees, and ...... -
Regional Mixed Migration Summary, September 2012
18 Oct 2012 ... ... After making the trek across Egypt's increasingly lawless Sinai region, the group refused to return ... the kidnapping and torture of migrants in the Sinai region was presented to the European parliament. ...... -
Expert Meeting on Refugee and Asylum Seekers in Distress at Sea, Djibouti, 8-10 November 2011: Presentation by the Regional Mixed Migration Secretariat (RMMS)
Nov 2011 ... Mixed migration movements within and out of the regions: Primary focus is the ‘north eastern’ corridor (sea crossing into Yemen and beyond) Secondary focus: North (Egypt / Sinai) West (via Sudan ...... -
Summary Record of the 663rd meeting held at the Palais des Nations, Geneva, on Thursday, 4 October 2012, at 10 a.m.
12 Oct 2012 ... ... The problem of trafficking and illegal migration via the Sinai was a complex issue, and Egypt had ... She said she agreed that the Sinai was a complex issue and, although the matter exceeded the mandate ......