(AFP File Photo)
145 migrants, who attempted to illegally cross to Italy, are being held at the Anfushi detention centre in Abu Qir, on the outskirts of Alexandria.
“The detainees are Syrian, Sudanese, and Palestinians refugees, as well as Egyptian migrants,” said Mohamed Saeed, a lawyer from the Egyptian Commission for Rights and Freedoms who is working on their case.
The boat carrying the migrants set sail on 24 September, with the engine failing ten hours later. The migrants were left stranded at sea for five days, until they were rescued by the Egyptian navy, Amnesty International said in a statement released Friday.
“Two children were reportedly found dead on the boat due to the harsh conditions,” the rights group said.
Ten Syrian nationals, including a 14 year-old child and five men of Palestinian origin, are at risk of being deported to Syria, according to Amnesty.
One of the men in custody told Amnesty that Egyptian National Security officials sent letters to immigration authorities ordering the Syrian nationals to be returned to Syria following their detention.
Four of the men are registered with the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR).
The boat had almost made it to Salloum, just before the border with Libya, from where another boat was supposed to transport the migrants to Italy, when the engine failed.
After they were rescued, the group was transported to the military port of Ras Al-Teen, where they were held for three hours and their biological data was taken, according to Amnesty.
They have now been under the Egyptian Authorities for over a month and have been questioned by both the police and national security on numerous occasions.
Amnesty has urged the Egyptian authorities to uphold their obligations under the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees; the 1969 Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of Problems in Africa; and the Egyptian constitution.
The organisation specifically mentioned the importance of international protection for those fleeing serious human rights violations and the armed conflict in Syria.
Amnesty called on the Egyptian authorities “to release all of the individuals held for immigration control purposes and allow them access to the UNHCR”.
