Egypt: Forcible return/Fear of torture or other ill-treatment

Egypt: Forcible return/Fear of torture or other ill-treatment

Index Number: MDE 12/025/2008
Date Published: 18 December 2008
Categories: Egypt

A group of some 104 Eritrean asylum-seekers held in a detention facility in Nakhl, northern Sinai, could be forcibly returned to Eritrea in the next few days. The group, which is believed to comprise 78 men, 23 women, including one pregnant woman, and three children, was visited by officials from the Eritrean Embassy in Egypt to arrange for their deportation. None of the asylum-seekers has been allowed access to representatives from the office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Cairo, for assessment of their claims for asylum.