How many African migrants are being shot and killed on the Egyptian border?

’’I strongly believe there are hundreds of unreported dead and wounded [at the border]," Sigal Rosen, public activities coordinator at the NGO Moked, a hotline for migrants, told IRIN.

"We’ve interviewed hundreds of asylum-seekers and nearly all told us that some people in their group were shot and left behind while attempting to cross the border. Furthermore, we have evidence from IDF [Israeli Defence Forces] soldiers revealing that the death toll on the Egyptian side is much higher than reported. The graveyard for asylum-seekers shot on the [Israeli side] of the border in Kibbutz Hatzor already holds 25 graves [since mid-2007]. Many of the asylum-seekers tell us that [other] bodies are left in the dessert.’’

The Sons of Darfur, an NGO assisting asylum-seekers in Israel, concurred that many more were being killed than reports suggested. ’’We expect Israel to pressure the Egyptians to stop shooting at asylum-seekers at the border,’’ said the NGO’s director, Yassin (his only name). More...

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