CAIRO: An Irish charity worker and her daughter who were detained after crossing from Gaza into Egypt will not face trial, a spokeswoman for the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) told Daily News Egypt.
Treasa Ni Cheannabhain and her daughter Nesrin El-Safty, both members of the Irish branch of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, had crossed into Gaza illegally from Egypt to carry out charity work before being refused reentry into Egypt after the border was resealed last Sunday.
They had only been allowed to reenter Egypt on Thursday after the intervention of the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs, despite the fact that Ni Cheannabhain is married to an Egyptian doctor, Saber El-Safty.
The two women have been detained at the border since and will now have to wait until the Gaza border reopens to international traffic so that they can get their passports stamped on the Gaza side.
Speaking to Irish news on Saturday Ni Cheannabhain said that she believed she would have to face trial at a military court in Egypt or return to Gaza indefinitely after the border reopened.
“This is completely unfounded, the spokeswoman at the Irish DFA said. “She is in the custody of the military border police, but she will not be sent back to Gaza.
“They are in good health and were being treated well by the border police, the spokeswoman said.
The spokeswoman added that Ni Cheannabhain had been reunited with her husband and that the Irish embassy in Cairo had been instrumental in resolving the matter.
It is believed that around nine other foreign nationals are currently in detention at the border crossing for illegal reentry into Egypt.
