Rights Groups Demand Summit To Pressure Egypt Over Asylum Seekers Deportations

Cairo, Egypt (AHN) - International and African human rights organizations have called upon African leaders attending the African Union summit in Sharm El Sheikh to press Egypt over the deportation of hundreds of Eritrean asylum seekers.

The 30 rights groups called for the summit "to urge Egypt to respect its obligations under international law and to cease immediately the deportation of Eritrean asylum seekers."

Hundreds of Eritrean asylum seekers have been forcibly returned to Eritrea by the Egyptian government, despite calls from the UN refugee agency to halt the deportations in order to humanitarian organizations time to investigate the individuals' claims.

"By deporting these individuals, Egypt lies in violation of its obligations under the 1969 Organization of African Unity (OAU) Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of Refugee Problems in Africa, the 1951 UN Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and the UN Convention Against Torture, all of which oblige state parties to respect the principle of non-refoulement," the statement read.

"The deportation of the Eritrean asylum seekers was also done in complete disregard to recent UNHCR guidelines distributed to all governments and stating that rejected Eritrean asylum seekers should not be returned to Eritrea. A number of NGOs have also called upon the Egyptian government to cease the deportations."

Egypt is home to thousands of Sudanese, Eritrean, Somali, Ethiopian and other African refugees.