Egypt police kill 15 Sudanese migrants at Israel border

15 Sudanese migrants were killed and another eight were injured when they attempted to climb over the border fence into Israel, Associated press reported on Sunday. Sudanese refugees in Jordan staged a protest in front of the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) in Amman on Sunday.

A senior Egyptian official in the Sinai Peninsula said that the police opened fire on the migrants after they ignored warning shots and sprinted toward the fence on Sunday. The security forces captured another eight Sudanese migrants who were not wounded.

The official spoke to Associated press on condition of anonymity as they are not authorised to speak to the media.

Last week, a group of Sudanese refugees staged a sit-in in front of the office of the UNHCR in Cairo. It was the latest action of a series of protests against the deterioration of the security situation in the districts the refugees are living in. They demanded humanitarian aid and relocation.

Israel

The region stretching from eastern Sudan up through Egypt to the Sinai Peninsula is a major route for Sudanese and other east African migrants trying to flee to Israel in search of a better life. Thousands of them, mostly Eritreans, make the journey each year.

There are more than 45,000 African migrants and asylum seekers in Israel, according to the Israeli Ministry of Interior Affairs. Many say they are fleeing conflict and persecution and are seeking refugee status.

Israel considers them all economic migrants whose swelling numbers threaten the country’s Jewish character.

In February 2014, the Sudanese Secretariat of Expatriate Affairs reported that the official number of Sudanese who illegally migrated to Israel stood at 10,000. Another 6,000 Sudanese illegally migrated to Lebanon.

Only 25 percent of the Sudanese asylum seekers in Israel were Darfuris. The vast majority came from central and northern Sudan.

Jordan

Dozens of Sudanese asylum seekers stranded in Jordan staged a sit-in in front of the UNHCR office in the capital Amman on Sunday.

They demanded the UN refugee agency to grant them the refugee status and provide them with financial support to survive in Jordan.

(Souces: foxnews.com, tahrirnews.com, dabangasudan.org)