Egypt police kill six Sudanese migrants at Israel border
Officials say the Africans were shot during a gun battle between security forces and smugglers
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Six Sudanese migrants were killed and 17 wounded during a Monday gun battle between Egyptian security forces and smugglers as they tried to illegally enter Israel from Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula, according to Egyptian security officials.
The officials said that smugglers transferred the migrants in pickup trucks and dropped them off close to the border south of the town of Rafah before firing at border forces in an attempt to distract them and allow the migrants to cross into Israel.
The smugglers then fled, leaving the dead and wounded migrants, who were taken to Rafah hospital for treatment.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief the media.
The Sinai Peninsula, where Egyptian authorities are battling a jihadist insurgency, is a major route for African migrants trying to reach Israel.
Monday’s shooting is not the first time African migrants trying to enter Israel have been killed by Egypt.
On November 15, the bodies of 15 African migrants were found near the Israeli border after they were shot dead.
Officials said police opened fire on the migrants after they ignored warning shots and sprinted toward the fence. The security forces arrested another eight Sudanese migrants who were not wounded.
A week earlier another Sudanese man was killed when the Egyptian military fired on a group of migrants attempting to cross the border into Israel. Three others were seriously injured and were taken to Beersheba’s Soroka Medical Center for treatment, the report said. It wasn’t clear what happened to the remaining 20-odd members of the group.
There are an estimated 50,000 African migrants currently in Israel, most of whom do not have official status.
Many say they are fleeing conflict and persecution and are seeking refugee status. Israeli officials contend they are economic migrants, and have resisted calls to recognize them as refugees.
A border fence equipped with sensors that alert on infiltration attempts was completed in 2012. The fence was built to stymie the stream of African migrants and, to a lesser extent, to stop the smuggling of controlled substances from Sinai into Israel.
The Times of Israel Community.