The Washington Post reports:
Egyptian security forces are killing an increasing number of Darfurian refugees and other African migrants attempting to cross from Egypt’s Sinai desert into Israel in pursuit of jobs and a better life, according to refugees, human rights groups and the Egyptian government.
Since the first recorded border killing in the summer of 2007, when Egyptian authorities announced a live-fire policy on the Sinai border, Egyptian security forces have shot dead at least 28 migrants as they left Egypt for Israel, the rights group Amnesty International said Thursday. Of those, the group said, 23 have been killed since January.
The shootings are illegal under international law because the refugees pose no threat, for the most part.
Refugee advocates blame Israel and the United States. Israel has been inundated with refugees from Africa, as we reported in February (Israel is overwhelmed with African refugees). It’s a tiny country, and has taken in thousands of refugees from Africa but can’t continue to accept the massive number that is trying to come in. So Israel asked Egypt to stop the flow into Israel. The article says that pressure, from Israel and the U.S. “led the Egyption government to adopt its live-fire policy — an assertion Israeli and U.S. officials deny.” Well, neither Israel nor the U.S. permits its forces to fire on migrants coming in illegally, so it’s highly unlikely they would have encouraged Egypt to shoot refugees. But never mind, everything is the fault of Israel and the United States.