Re: Planned Forced Return of Two Refugees into Extreme Danger in Eritrea
Your Excellency,
We are writing to you most urgently about the cases of Eritrean refugees, Alem Tesfay Abraham and Kibrom Adhanom, who have been illegally detained at Al Qanater prison, Cairo, since 2012 and 2014 respectively, where they have been held incommunicado, without due legal process, and under harsh conditions for the whole period since their detention.
On 9th September 2021, Alem and Kibrom were transported to an immigration office, beaten, and forced to sign documents in Arabic, which they could not read or understand, so had no idea what they were signing. It appears that they may have been forced to declare in writing that they were not subjected to ill-treatment by the prison administration throughout their detention. In reality, these refugees have been beaten, tortured, starved, and held in solitary confinement. They also had their hands and feet shackled and been left in direct sunlight for hours while in Al-Qanater prison.
We understand that the Immigration authorities in your country had obtained travel documents for these two refugees from the Eritrean Embassy in Cairo and planned to forcibly deport them to Eritrea during the weekend of 11th-12th September. It now appears that this deportation was delayed and temporarily postponed.
If returned to Eritrea, the country they fled from, they are at risk of imprisonment, torture, abuse and indefinite period of slavery, and a substantial risk of execution.
May we remind you most urgently that the forcible return of refugees to the country they have fled from is in breach of UN Treaties. Article 13 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights guarantees that “everyone has the right to freedom of movement”, and “the right to leave any country, including his own.” These two men have simply exercised these rights.
Egypt is party to the 1951 UN Refugee Convention relating to the Status of Refugees (and its 1967 Additional Protocol) and is also a signatory to the African Union Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of Refugee Problems in Africa. Under these Conventions, Egypt is duty bound to make every effort to protect the rights and ensure the safety of asylum-seekers and refugees in need of protection, of whatever nationality. Article 91 of the country’s 2014 Constitution provides that political asylum must be available to anyone who has been persecuted.
The very real danger of these men being tortured in Eritrea renders their forced returned to that
country in direct contradiction to Egypt’s commitments under Article 3 of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT), which provides that no state shall expel, return (“refouler”) or extradite a person to another state where there are substantial grounds for believing that he or she would be in danger of torture or cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment.
May we respectfully highlight that the Egyptian government is committed to upholding all the international conventions it has ratified, such as the Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and the Convention against Torture. Egypt’s adherence to these Conventions is not optional, but legally binding under international law.
Human Rights Concern-Eritrea (HRCE) urges that no further attempts be made to deport these two refugees to Eritrea. Although the deportation has been temporarily suspended, it has apparently not been abandoned. It is vital to point out that these Eritrean refugees are innocent, and should be freed immediately from detention. If the Egyptian government is not willing to grant them asylum, they should be handed over to the office of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), so that sanctuary can be found for them in a safe third country.
We appeal to you with the utmost urgency to halt the proposed return to Eritrea of these two refugees, and to ensure that the UNHCR is given the access, the authorisation and requisite time to find a safe third country to which they can be transferred.
Sadly, this attempted deportation is not an isolated case, and sheds light on Egypt’s problematic approach towards refugees. We urge you to institute a thorough review of your country’s immigration policies towards asylum-seekers, ensuring that the regulations are revised to bring them fully in line with Egypt’s commitments under all the international and regional treaties and conventions relevant to refugees and asylum-seekers.
Yours Respectfully,
Elizabeth Chyrum
Director,
Human Rights Concern-Eritrea (HRCE)
Copy to:
Mr. Omar Marawan, Justice Minister;
HE. Ambassador Alaa Roushdy, Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs for Human Rights and International Social and Humanitarian Affairs;
Counsellor Hamada El-Sawy, Public Prosecutor, Office of the Public Prosecutor,
Mr. Solomon Ayele Dersso, Chairperson, African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights;
Mr. Filippo Grandi, The UN High Commissioner for Refugees,
Ms. Michellee Bachelet Jeria, The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, r
Mr. Mohamed Abdelsalam Babiker, Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in Eritrea.
