AL-ARISH: Egyptian police on Saturday arrested 12 African migrants, including a seven-year-old child, as they tried to cross the border illegally into Israel, a security source said.
Five Sudanese, four Eritreans and three Nigerians arrested in separate swoops in the Sinai peninsula included two women and a seven-year-old girl, the source said.
The 250-km Egyptian-Israeli border has become a major transit route for migrants and asylum-seekers.
On Monday Egyptian police shot dead an Eritrean woman as she tried to cross the border illegally when she ignored warnings to stop.
The UN refugee agency said in February that more than 1,500 Africans, mostly from Eritrea, have entered Israel illegally through Egypt since the start of the year.
Israel s public security ministry has said that more than 4,700 people entered Israel from the Sinai over the past 14 months alone.
In February Israel decided to erect a security barrier along its border with Egypt to stop infiltration by Palestinian militants and migrant workers. -AFP
