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| Africa North |
| Egypt to Free Another Group of Sudanese Refugees |
| 2006-01-19 |
| Egypt has decided to release 143 Sudanese who were among 469 detained by police after the break-up of a protest last month, the Foreign Ministry said. Egyptian police originally rounded up more than 600 Sudanese who were part of a three-month demonstration that ended in violent clashes in December. Egypt had said it wanted to send all of them back to Sudan but has since released some of them. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees, which has appealed to the authorities not to send any Sudanese back to Sudan, has been interviewing those still in detention to determine whether any are entitled to be labeled refugees. Those with refugee status would be exempt from deportation. The ministry said in a statement, issued late on Tuesday, that the authorities would release 56 Sudanese from Darfur, the war-torn western region of Sudan, and 87 women and children, leaving 326 still in detention. The UN agency would have until Jan. 26 to determine the legal status of those still being held, the ministry said. |
| Posted by:Fred |