Al Jazeera reported on Nov. 6 that Egypt admitted to shooting at least six illegal migrants from Africa trying to cross the border into Israel late Tuesday night.
Egyptian security guards saw the six men from Sudan and Eritrea trying to cross the border fence Tuesday, warned them to come down, and then proceeded to shoot them when the migrants refused to listen.
In the past year alone, Egypt has killed approximately 25 migrants from Ethiopia, Eritrea, Somalia and other African countrying trying to sneak into Israel illegally.
Israel asked Egypt to enforce border security after it became clear that illegal immigration was up and causing tremendous drug-related problems.
Of the six men shot Tuesday one was brought to a hospital. He is in serious condition. The other five were less seriously injured.
Many migrants from Africa try to cross the border into Israel because they are poorly treated and discriminated against in Egypt.
Of course, the high amount of illegal immigration also causes tremendous security concerns for Israel: if Africans can enter the Jewish nation-state illegally, so can Islamic extremists from Egypt. Furthermore, Africans too are receptive to extremism. Especially migrants from Sudan and Eritrea may be suspected of holding extremist beliefs.
-PoliGazette