CAIRO: An African migrant was shot dead by Egyptian security forces along the lengthy desert border with Israel on Saturday, security sources said. According to reports from the border, the migrant was attempting to cross into the Jewish state and failed to stop and was subsequently shot, while three other Africans were arrested. The incident has highlighted the ongoing struggle between Africans, the Egyptian government and rights groups who argue the “shoot-to-stop” policy of security is a violation of human rights.

Since May, at least 16 migrants have been killed, but until Saturday, the last death reported was in September. Egypt is bolstering its border security efforts with Israel after security sources argue the rise in human trafficking through Egypt needs more attention. The African killed was not carrying identification papers, but the two Ethiopians and an Eritrean, have been identified.

The killing has left rights groups worried that despite efforts to change the status quo, it is more of the same along the border. Issues that have been raised in recent years remain the same, rights workers say.

Last fall, Human Rights Watch (HRW) issued a detailed report that condemns the Egyptian state’s “shoot-to-kill” deterrence method. Although around 13,000 Africans have entered the Jewish state since 2006, the 33 people killed along the border since June 2007 have highlighted the ongoing struggle between rights group and Cairo as well as Israel.

The Egyptian government claims the use of force along the lengthy desert border in the Sinai Peninsula is part of its counter terror strategy against smuggling, but HRW said in its 90-page report, “Sinai Perils: Risks to Migrants, Refugees and Asylum Seekers in Egypt and Israel,” that the migrants killed on the 266-kilometer (130-mile) border pose no threat to the border guards that have opened fire.

“The Egyptian government should send a clear message to stop shooting the defenseless, harmless and [non-threatening] people on the border,” Human Rights Watch researcher Bill Van Esveld told journalists at Cairo’s Press Syndicate during the release of the report.

“Unfortunately, it does not seem that Egyptian officials here recognize the seriousness of the problem.”

Israel has long called on Cairo to do more in inhibiting the movement of people across their border, but HRW was critical of the Jewish state, saying that potential asylum-seekers should not be immediately returned to Egypt where they could face deportation to nations with well-documented human rights violations.

“Both Egypt and Israel have responded to this cross-border flow with policies that violate fundamental rights,” said the report.

“Despite the violations of refugee rights on the Egyptian side, Israel had returned many people back to the custody of the Egyptian border police,” added Van Esveld.

In Israel, many activists have started questioning the government’s policy of return, suggesting that as Jews those seeking a reprieve from genocide should be given the opportunity to remain. Many Africans in Cairo boast of friends who have succeeded in making the border gauntlet into Israel.

“I have a number of friends who have told me of the joy they are having in Israel, where they work and have a life again,” said Somali refugee Ali, who asked that his surname remain anonymous.

But that hope has been dashed for dozens of Africans who have been met with bullets.

One of the reasons Africans living in Egypt seek Israel is the poor conditions they experience in the country. Ranging from unemployment, racism and lack of funds, the Africans are distraught at their lives, unable to find a niche in Egypt.

“Many Sudanese said that attitudes among ordinary Egyptians were racist and frequently spilled over into violence,” the report said.

“My choice was to stay in Cairo, go through Libya (to Europe) and maybe die at sea, or go to Israel and die by a bullet. I preferred to die by a bullet,” it quoted an asylum-seeker from Sudan’s Darfur region as saying.

The border remains dangerous, but for the thousands of refugees and migrants, Egypt has become unbearable and the risk seems worth it for many.

BM

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