Cairo \u2013 North-Press Agency<\/b><\/p>\n
Muhammad Abou Zeid<\/b><\/p>\n
“We have nothing to return to, as we left everything there in Syria, hoping to live in Egypt. Deportation is like an execution to us.” A distress that reflects the suffering of Syrian families threatened of deportation from Egypt, after they managed to enter through smuggling from Sudan.<\/p>\n
With the difficulties of entering Egypt under the current conditions and procedures that have restricted the entry of Syrians into Egypt in large numbers, as the case was in 2012 and 2013, many are forced to try to infiltrate into Egypt through smuggling, through Sudan, which is full of dangers.<\/p>\n
Muhammad al-Durra, a Syrian from Damascus countryside, tells the story of his suffering along with five Syrian families who entered Egypt through smuggling, and are now threatened not to be allowed to seek asylum and residency, and then deported to Syria, despite the health and psychological problems of which they suffer, and that nothing has left for them in Syria after they emigrated from their country.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are five Syrian families, including children and women, all of whom are being held inside the Edfu department (in Aswan governorate, the southernmost part of Egypt, nearby the Sudanese borders)”. Al-Durra said in a distress message from the detention center in Aswan, which he shared with various Syrian groups in Egypt and was monitored by North-Press today. <\/p>\n
The five families have been detained for a while since they have entered through smuggling, in preparation for obtaining residency permits, as usual, which allow them to enter Egypt. However, “we were surprised by the decision of deportation to Syria after being detained for 50 days, where this is the first time that such a thing happen against the Syrian families, especially that there are directives from The President of the Republic of Egypt Abdel Fattah El Sisi, to facilitate the matters of Syrian families who come through Sudan. “<\/p>\n
Al-Durra described the situation as “tragic” and said that he was accompanied by the five families “a pregnant woman, another woman who has diabetes and pressure, another patient with asthma, and children suffering psychologically under the weight of those circumstances .. We do not know where to go and what to do. We’ve done everything and have left everything behind us to seek refuge in Egypt, we neither have a reason to go back to Syria nor can we go to any other country, after we have passed the wild desert with children. “<\/p>\n
Al-Durra appealed to the decision-makers in Egypt to facilitate their affairs and stop the decision of deportation of the five families. “`We appeal to the decision-makers in Egypt, we are brothers, we were seeking to take a shelter in your country as we have heard about your generosity from those who arrived here before us, we cannot go anywhere, and the decision of deportation is like death penalty to us,” he said, noting that the five families had reached out to the United Nations (UNHCR) but nothing has happened so far.<\/p>\n
North-Press has contacted the UNHCR in Cairo to identify the nature of dealing with the matter of the five families and the role which UNHCR may play to support them in the presence of humanitarian cases among those families, without receiving a response.<\/p>\n
The Syrian families coming through smuggling ways from Sudan were allowed to enter Egypt, with precautionary measures and lead time for obtaining residency.<\/p>\n
However, this is not the case with the growing numbers of Syrians inside Egypt and in line with the precautionary security measures which are taken by the Egyptian authorities after June 30, 2013, which included tightening borders controls. North-Press has reported similar complaints and appeals about the detention of a number of young Syrians in preparation for their deportation, as they attempted to enter Egypt through smuggling.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Cairo \u2013 North-Press Agency Muhammad Abou Zeid “We have nothing to return to, as we left everything there in Syria, hoping to live in Egypt. Deportation is like an execution to us.” A distress that reflects the suffering of Syrian families threatened of deportation from Egypt, after they managed to enter through smuggling from Sudan. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":37889,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pgc_sgb_lightbox_settings":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5,2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-37888","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community","category-syria"],"yoast_head":"\n