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Human Rights Chief decries Egypt's use of lethal force against migrants
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay has urged the Egyptian government to bring to an end the use lethal force against unarmed migrants trying to enter Israel via Egypt.
Navi Pillay
Ms Pillay said the large number of unarmed migrants and asylum seekers killed by security forces suggests Egyptian security forces have been operating a shoot to kill policy. Patrick Maigua reports from Geneva.
According to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, there has been at least 60 fatal shooting of migrants and asylum seekers by Egyptian security forces over the past two and a half years.
This year alone nine migrants have been killed while attempting to enter Israel illegally through Egypt. The migrants shot dead are mainly from Sub-Saharan Africa -- in particular from Eritrea, Sudan and Ethiopia. The High Commissioner says the killings amount to a violation of the right to life. Rupert Colville is the spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.
"While migrants often lose their lives accidentally when traveling in over-crowded boats, or trying to cross remote land borders, we do not know of no other country where so many unarmed migrants and asylum seekers appear to have been deliberately killed in this way by government forces. It is a deplorable state of affairs, and the sheer number of victims suggests that at least some Egyptian security officials have been operating a shoot-to-kill policy. It is unlikely that so many killings would occur otherwise. Sixty killings can hardly be an accident. There needs to be clarity about what's been going on at this border, what policies have been applied to migrants trying to cross the border, and what specific orders have been given to security forces patrolling the area."
The High Commissioner is calling on the government of Egypt to undertake an independent inquiry into the killing of migrants by State security forces. She says although the Egypt Israel Border was a restricted military zone, it was no excuse for security forces to use lethal force on unarmed individuals.
Patrick Maigua, UN Radio, Geneva
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