On July 23rd 2020, officials of the UN Human Rights Council sent a memorandum to the Government of Egypt questioning the long-term detention without charge or trial of two Eritrean refugees in a prison for criminals.

Because of enforced conscription of all Eritreans of 18 years and upwards into often lifelong military service, hundreds of thousands of Eritreans attempt to escape from their country by any means possible. In desperation, they travel through neighbouring countries such as Ethiopia or Sudan, and often take very dangerous routes, such as via the Sinai desert, where they are frequently kidnapped by criminals, maltreated, tortured and held to ransom. Some of these desperate refugees reach Egypt, where they can be detained in prisons and denied refugee status.

The memo from officials of the UN Human Rights Council to the Egyptian government highlighted the plight of two of these Eritrean refugees (aged 36 and 41) who were detained in 2012 and 2013. In the document, the UN HR Council officials questioned the treatment of the Eritreans, and why and where they had been detained. Both refugees had been in the hands of the Egyptian police, rather than being dealt with as refugees by immigration officials, and both were detained in Al-Qanater prison for criminals, rather than an immigration centre. The memorandum questioned why both men had been detained for more than 5 years without charge or trial, and without being allowed to apply for asylum or register a claim as refugees with the UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) in Egypt. The UN experts also drew attention to the alarming conditions in Al-Qanater prison, including overcrowding, lack of access to food, and health care, and the prevention of any visits to the Eritrean detainees since the end of 2019.

Human Rights Concern-Eritrea (HRCE) has previously drawn attention to the illegal detention of Eritrean refugees in Egypt and the continued long-term illegal treatment of vulnerable Eritreans justifiably seeking sanctuary on the grounds that, if returned to their own country of origin, they would almost certainly be imprisoned and could face torture, disappearance, or death. Elizabeth Chyrum, Director of HRCE, commented, “Immediate access for the UNHCR to these two Eritrean detainees is urgent. It is vital that the Egyptian authorities now release these two men without delay and enable them to make application for asylum, as required by international law. Because of the danger they would face, they must on no account be returned to Eritrea. We applaud the intervention in these cases by the UN Human Rights Council, and recommend that all countries support this call for fair treatment for Eritrean refugees in Egypt.”

Human Rights Concern – Eritrea (HRCE)

23 October 2020