Borkena
Toronto – Egypt has reportedly deported over 150 Eritreans for undisclosed reasons, BBC Amharic reported on Tuesday.
The source was not specific as to when the incident happened except saying those deported were mostly living in the capital Cairo.
“Many” were jailed for months, and some of them were said to have a residence permit, before they were deported.
BBC Amharic cited Adel, whose name is changed for apparently for security reasons, as saying that “Eritreans were arrested in different prison facilities before they were deported.
Some were reportedly taken from their work place. Women and those Eritreans with a residence permit were also targeted in the Egyptian authority’s campaign.
BBC Tigrigna program has reportedly spoken to some Eritreans in the country. They are cited as saying that those who were deported were in prison for up to three months. Those who are not willing to return to Eritrea, via Embassy facilitation, are subject to extended prison time.
From the report, it has been about two years since the Egyptian government has been deporting Eritreans. Yet, this appears to be the first time the issue is covered as a news story.
If the BBC report is accurate, the Eritrean government does not appear to be oblivious about it as the deportation is facilitated in coordination with the Eritrean Embassy in Cairo.
The embassy has not remarked about it and BBC Amharic indicated that the attempt to reach out to Embassy officials was not a success.
Apart from Eritreans, the Egyptian government has reportedly targeted Sudanese nationals living in the country.
Why is Egypt deporting Eritreans?
“The deportations before the recent one was related to paper [permit] but current one is related to economy and the change in the rate of currency exchange,” Eritrean immigrant is cited as saying.
The Egyptian Pound has been losing value against the dollar and the government seems to relate it to illegal currency exchange activities, according to a BBC Amharic report.
Notably, the Eritrean government has a friendly relation with Egypt. Eritrea is also one of the signatories of a military alliance with Egypt which was signed in October this year.
At the time of this writing, the Ministry of Information of Eritrea has not remarked on the BBC Amharic/Tigrigna report.
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