Human Rights Watch (HRW) has told Egypt not to deport two Palestinians back to Syria over concerns for their safety in the war-torn country.
The rights group made the call through their website on Friday. HRW reported that the two Palestinians, a father and son, “would face indiscriminate violence and possible persecution if returned to Syria.”
According to HRW the two men originally fled from Syria to Egypt legally by using their Palestinian refugee papers. Allegedly the pair then travelled to Turkey and were sent back to Egypt for attempting to enter the European Union without proper documentation. Upon their arrival in Egypt the pair were detained by officials for “having attempted to travel using false documents”.
HRW have also reported that Egyptian officials deported two Syrian men on 13 January, which organisation says violates Egypt’s commitments under international law.
Egypt has signed a number a conventions and agreements on refugees including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), the 1951 Refugee Convention, the convention against torture and the African Refugee Convention. HRW claim that by deporting refugees, Egypt would be in breach of these agreements which all forbid the deportation of refugees if it would place them at risk of persecution.
The United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) said there are 526,644 registered Syrian refugees in the region and more than 100,000 awaiting registration as of 17 January. Egypt is currently providing refuge for 13,874 Syrians according to UNHCR.
The UNHCR could not confirm whether this figure included Palestinian refugees who have fled the Syrian conflict.
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) reported that as of 9 January there were 7,623 internally displaced persons, 92% of whom are Palestinian refugees.
Egyptian border guards were accused by HRW and two other human rights organisations in October of being party to incidents of Israel turning away African refugees. The report published by the groups included accounts of refugees being abused by both Egyptian and Israeli authorities.
