EGYPT DOES NOT CONFIRM DEPORTATION OF SUDANESE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 CAIRO 003238 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/12/2017 TAGS: PREF PHUM PREL EG IS SU SUBJECT: EGYPT DOES NOT CONFIRM DEPORTATION OF SUDANESE REF: A. SECSTATE 154604 ¶B. CAIRO 3190 ¶C. CAIRO 2937 ¶D. 2006 CAIRO 170 Classified by DCM Stuart Jones for reasons 1.4 (b). ¶1. (C) Summary: The MFA's lead on refugee issues Tarek El Maaty refused to confirm press reports that Egypt had refouled to Sudan five of the group of 48 African migrants that Israel returned to Egypt in August. Nonetheless, El Maaty argued that Egypt has the right to do so for "national security reasons," and if the migrants did not have UNHCR refugee or asylum-seeker status. El Maaty claimed that Israel had violated its international commitments by returning the group of 48 to Egypt in the first place, and also that Israel is hampering Egypt's ability to further stem the flow of African migrants across by not allowing Egypt to place more troops on the border. However, Egypt has begun profiling Africans at the Suez Canal to stop them from entering the Sinai, which may be slowing the migrant flow across the border. The African migrant issue is intimately entwined with larger questions of security along Egypt's borders with Israel and Gaza, and the GOE is unlikely to engage substantively without Israeli concessions on border issues. End summary. No Confirmation of Refoulement -------------- ¶2. (SBU) In anticipation of ref A demarche, on November 8 we followed-up with MFA Deputy Assistant Minister for Refugees Tarek El Maaty about press reports that Egypt had deported to Sudan five Sudanese of the group of 48 African migrants that Israel had returned to Egypt in August (ref B),emphasizing that Egypt should not refoule refugees as per its international commitments and that the UNHCR should have access to current and any future migrants. El Maaty said that, because the Ministry of Defense had authority over the group of 48, he did not know if reports that five Sudanese had been refouled were true. However, a GOE inter-agency meeting on this issue was scheduled for the week of November 11, after which he promised more information. ¶3. (SBU) El Maaty emphasized that, if the reports are true, Egypt would only have deported Sudanese who were determined not to have UNHCR refugee or asylum-seeker status. We argued that such persons might still be in danger due to having been in Israel, thus Egypt was still obliged not to refoule them; 
El Maaty, however, disputed that the Sudanese in question would likely be in danger if returned to Sudan. El Maaty noted that this would be the first ever instance of Egypt deporting Sudanese, if true, and thus a decision not taken lightly, but that the 1951 convention on refugees allows signatory states to refoule refugees if necessary "for reasons of national security" (NFI). GOE Blames Israel, Asks for More Border Troops -------------- - ¶4. (SBU) El Maaty complained that Egypt is being blamed for Israel's wrongs, and that fault for potential refoulement lies ultimately with Israel for violating its refugee commitments by return the group of 48 back to Egypt in the first place. Additionally, by not allowing Egypt to put more troops on its border with Israel, El Maaty claimed that Israel is hampering Egypt's ability to stem the flow of African migrants without further violence. He asked for USG intervention with Israel on this issue. Internal Security Measures Reducing Border Incidents? -------------- -------------- ¶5. (C) At the same time, Maaty previously claimed that Egyptian attempts to stop Africans west of the Suez Canal is diminishing the number of Africans reaching and attempting to across the Israeli border (ref C). Egyptian General Intelligence Service Chief Omar Soliman told visiting NEA DAS Rob Danin on November 10 that, to accomplish this task, Egyptian security is preventing "all black people from accessing the Sinai, even as tourists" (septel). GOE Approves South Sudanese Repatriation Airlift -------------- --- ¶5. (SBU) El Maaty said the GOE has approved allowing direct flights for South Sudanese who want to be repatriated directly to Juba, which he hoped will encourage more South Sudanese to return home (ref C). Currently, South Sudanese in Egypt face a prohibitively expensive and arduous land journey to return to their homes in South Sudan. The UNHCR is now looking for international donors and financing to fund CAIRO 00003238 002 OF 002 repatriation of South Sudanese by air, and he asked for USG support to the project. Comment -------------- ¶6. (C) El Maaty's claim not to know the fate of the five Sudanese seemed contrived stonewalling, and several of his arguments rang hollow - Egypt assumed responsibility for the group of 48 and any further refoulement by accepting their return from Israel, and the "national security" basis for refoulement was unsupported. However, GOE officials seem to calculate that dissuading further border crossing attempts, to include sporadic violent incidents at the border and now possibly refoulements of those without refugee or asylum-seeker status, trump any international ire that may arise. GOE officials see the African migrant issue as part and parcel of the larger issue of security along its Sinai border, and are unlikely to engage with Israel on a comprehensive policy towards migrants without first obtaining Israeli concessions on border issues. Further, Egyptian officials - and Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit personally, according to El Maaty - are wary of cooperating more closely with the UNHCR due to lingering bad blood over the GOE's violent repression of a December 2005 Sudanese sit-in in front of UNHCR's Cairo headquarters (ref D). RICCIARDONE