Eritrean Child Prisoners Join Hunger Strike in Aswan Prison

Eritrean Child Prisoners Join Hunger Strike in Aswan Prison

21st May 201

Yesterday, a large group of Eritrean prisoners in an Aswan prison concluded a three-day hunger strike, in desperation protesting their continued incarceration without charge or trial.  They were joined by some of the young children incarcerated with their mothers in the prison.  The Government of Egypt has apparently accepted that they are victims of human trafficking, brought into Egypt against their will, yet they are not being released after many months.  The prisoners report poor conditions in the prison, and a lack of food and access to medicine and treatment.  Some were shot as the vehicle in which they were being trafficked was stopped by the Egyptian border guards; others were injured whilst escaping from the kidnappers.  They say they have received little or no treatment for these wounds.

We are extremely concerned about the welfare of the five Eritrean child victims of human trafficking also incarcerated in the prison with their mothers.  They range between nine months and ten years of age.  They suffer the same lack of food and medicines as the adults.

We call upon the Government of the Republic of Egypt to immediately release these prisoners as victims and not perpetrators of any crime.  We especially request that the children and their mothers be set free immediately and taken to Cairo, where Release Eritrea can care for them through our project.

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