Egypt Has Deported And Detained Over 200 People Who Flew To Cairo To Join The Global March To Gaza
Some 4,000 people from more than 40 countries are flying into Cairo and marching to Rafah on Egypt's border with Gaza to try to break Israel's siege.
Egyptian authorities have detained about 200 people from around the world who flew in to Cairo to join a global protest march from Egypt to Gaza to break Israel's siege on the strip.
The Global March for Gaza is expected to start on Thursday, June 12, and involves some 4,000 people from more than 40 countries meeting in Cairo and marching to Rafah on Egypt's border with Gaza.
They are expected to meet with a 100-vehicle convoy with thousands of volunteers from Algeria, Mauritania, Libya, Morocco and Tunisia that departed Tunis on Monday, June 9, and is also headed for Rafah, where they are expected to arrive on June 15.
The protesters are intending to camp for three days at the border to pressure authorities to open the border.
But ahead of the beginning of the march on Thursday, June 12, organizers told AFP that Egyptian authorities had detained, questioned or deported more than 200 pro-Palestine activists who had arrived in the country.
Organizers said those who had been detained include citizens from the US, the Netherlands, France, Spain, Morocco, Algeria and Australia, adding that some were arrested while others were released.
Separately, an Algerian lawyer told Egyptian news outlet Mada Masr that 40 Algerian citizens had been detained by Egyptian authorities on Wednesday morning when they arrived in Egypt to take part in the march.
The lawyer said they were later released after 24 hours and allowed to leave Egypt.
A Moroccan activist, meanwhile, told Mada Masr that a group of about 10 people from Morocco were turned back at the airport.
Another attendee said that several Turkish citizens carrying Palestine flags were detained outside their hotel and deported.
Organizers said in a statement on Thursday that their legal services are working on the cases as they had complied with all the legal requirements of the Egyptian authorities.
Even though organizers had been requesting the Egyptian government's permission to proceed with the march for weeks, the government did not release a statement until Wednesday night, saying that it "welcomes" the global pressure on Israel to break its blockade on Gaza but warned that the "foreign delegations" visiting North Sinai need to first obtain permission through submitting an official request either to the Egyptian embassies abroad or in Cairo.
Organizers said in their statement on Thursday that thousands of participants had arrived in Egypt and would leave for El Arish tomorrow and continue on foot to Rafah, where they are expected to arrive on Sunday.
The Tunisian Soumud convoy, which stands for resilience and steadfastness in Arabic, meanwhile, is in Libya and en route to Egypt.
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Cherry Mohamed
Cherry Mohamed
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