20 Eritreans stuck on Israeli-Egyptian border for six days

Migrants, caught between barriers without food and water, are said to be scared to go back through Sinai

A group of 20 Eritrean migrants has been stuck between two fences on the Egyptian-Israeli border for six days, without food or water — save for a small number of beverages they have been given by Israeli soldiers — after being refused entry to the country.

Unable to enter Israel, and too scared to return to the Sinai Peninsula, the group has been stuck between the two security barriers that Israel is erecting along its 240-km. (150-mile) border with Egypt. A 14-year-old boy and a woman, who is believed to be pregnant, were among the group waiting at the border, Haaretz reported.

The news comes in the wake of a recent government announcement to the effect that the fence and other measures had successfully stemmed the flow of migrants entering Israel through the Sinai.

Last month, a group of migrants was transferred to a detention facility after being stuck between Israel and Egypt for four days.

Meanwhile, Israel is believed to be considering a forced repatriation of Eritrean asylum-seekers back to their home country — a move that has been criticized by human rights groups but is nonetheless acceptable under international law because Israel and Eritrea have diplomatic ties. (Israel would not be allowed to deport migrants to Sudan, for example, because Israel does not have ties with that conflict-ridden country.)

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