Egyptian Authorities Exploit Syrians

Hisham Marwa, member of the Legal Committee of the Syrian National Coalition, considers Syrians arrested by Egyptian authorities as unacceptable and exceeds legal norms. He stressed that “there are Syrian prisoners detained by Egyptian forces for no reason at all.” Marwa explained that “the head of the Syrian National Coalition held talks with several Egyptian officials and asked them to address these abuses, especially the arbitrary arrest of Syrian citizens. President of the Legal Committee of the Syrian National Coalition, Haitham al-Maleh, at a conference of the Syrian community in Egypt, criticized the deportation of some Syrians back to their country by Egyptian authorities, considering it a flagrant violation of the principles of international law. Al Maleh also considered the practice of extortion practiced by Egyptian police against Syrians inside detention centers in Alexandria and border crossings as immoral and contrary to the principles of law. He pointed to a recent incident in Port Said where he said some Syrians were on their way to Libya, they were stopped, mugged, beaten, and then handed over to the Egyptian security forces who deported them back to Syria. Al Maleh explained that if Egyptian authorities insisted on the policy of deportation then they should deport Syrians to a safe place and not hand Syrians over Bashar al Assad’s regime. Amnesty International accused Egyptian authorities of deporting and arresting hundreds of refugees fleeing Syria without legal basis. Amnesty International said, “instead of providing necessary assistance and support for Syrian refugees, Egyptian authorities arrest and deport them ignoring human rights principles.” Amnesty International added, “the lack of help and protection for Syrian refugees has seriously hurt Egypt’s image as one of the most important countries in the region.” Amnesty International reported that a number of Syrian refugees had to leave Egypt due to the harsh conditions they lived under there. An Egyptian diplomatic source said, “There are no extraordinary measures or systematic political measures taken against Syrians in Egypt.”  The source also said, “Human Rights Watch requested Egyptian authorities last July to “stop arbitrary arrests of Syrian refugees and to stop threatening them with deportation from the country.” HRW also called for the immediate release of detainees who have no real charges pending against them. (Source: Syrian Coalition)