Cairo International Airport authorities on Monday deported 26 Eritreans arrested last week while attempting to enter Israel through Egypt.
German news agency DPA quoted airport sources as saying that the deportees arrived under security coming from North Sinai’s security department.
The Eritrean Embassy in Cairo issued travel papers for them, and Egypt deported them on board a flight heading to Dubai then to the Eritrean capital of Asmara, the sources said.
The group is the second one to be deported in a week.
African migrants, particularly from Eritrea, Ethiopia and South Sudan, try to enter Israel through the Sinai border with the help of African and Bedouin smugglers.
Sinai has become a major trafficking route for African migrants seeking jobs.
Thousands of Eritreans each year flee the country, with many heading for Israel. A total of 16,816 Africans entered Israel illegally from Egypt in 2011, according to Israeli government data.
Translated from Al-Masry Al-Youm
