AL-ARISH: Egyptian police shot and wounded an Ethiopian migrant trying to enter Israel illegally on Friday, and separately traded fire with Bedouins who smuggle migrants, a security official said.
Police also arrested 10 African migrants, the official said, adding that the Ethiopian woman was taken to hospital in stable condition.
Egyptian police regularly shoot at migrants who use Egypt as a transit point to enter Israel through the 250 km border. Police killed at least 28 migrants, none of them armed, in 2008.
Egypt’s policy of shooting migrants has generated harsh criticism from human rights groups. The migrants say they try to leave Egypt because of poverty and racism. Israel has asked Egypt to clamp down on the traffic.
Shoot-outs are common between drug smugglers and police at the border, but smugglers rarely trade fire with police as they drop off the migrants. -AFP
