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The Egyptian authorities must end their appalling policy of unlawfully detaining and forcibly returning hundreds of refugees who have fled the armed conflict in Syria, said Amnesty Internation

towards refugees from Syria.More and more refugees are risking their lives to make the treacherous journey by sea to Europe – often paying smugglers up to US $3,500 each to make the trip.

t effectively seal off borders to refugees fleeing war crimes and crimes against humanity in Syria sends an entirely wrong message. Egypt should b

Amnesty International has accused Egypt of unlawfully detaining and deporting hundreds of Syrian refugees, many of them women and children fleeing civil war at home

face either deportation or ongoing detention in poor conditions.

In a statement, the foreign ministry said the content of Amnesty's report was "inaccurate and does not reflect the reality of [Syrians'] situation in  the country... they are treated in a dignified way."

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An anti-Islamist atmosphere in Egypt has led to daily harassment, arbitrary detentions, deportation and even deaths.

A desperate trip: By boat, Alexandria is roughly 1,300 kilometers (800 miles) from Italy In mid-September, when roughly 200 refugees attempted to flee conditions in Egypt by setting sail from the coastal city of Alexandria toward Italy, they didn't make it far. According to eyewitnesses quoted in Amnesty International's report, an Egyptian navy ship stopped the boat and fired upon it, killing two. The others on board were taken into custody.

police in Alexandria arrested 70 refugees in an Alexandria café

Total Persons of Concern 2,199,668

Syrian refugees in Egypt often face illegal detention or deportation, Amnesty International says

"The Egyptian authorities have a duty to provide protection to anyone who has fled the conflict in Syria and is seeking safe refuge in their country," Sherif Elsayed Ali, Amnesty International's head of refugee and migrants' rights

"Instead of offering vital help and support... the Egyptian authorities are arresting and deporting them."

3,300 Syrians have arrived in Italy by boat over recent weeks, many fleeing troubled Egypt where they had first found a haven from war, the UN refugee agency said

“The majority have come from Egypt,” Edwards told reporters

UNHCR estimates that 4,600 Syrians have arrived by sea in Italy since 2013 began, a massive increase on last year’s total of 369.

Dozens of men with clubs and knives stormed a charity for Syrian refugees a few days after the Egyptian military ousted President Mohamed Morsi — making it clear they were no longer welcome in Egypt.

Syria, more than two million people have fled the country, most of them taking up residence as refugees in Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey. But as many as 300,000 have eventually made their way to Egypt

“My Egyptian brother, my Egyptian sister,” the fliers said. “Fight the Syrian occupation and defend your jobs.”

In the nearby 6th of October City, parts of which have come to be known as Little Damascus, the refugees say the official hostility has amplified the frustrations of Egyptians with their own faltering economy, and Egypt’s chronic insecurity since the toppling of Hosni Mubara

en these complicated procedures, we understand that Syrians are not welcome in Egypt anymore."

Three weeks later, the new military government that took over imposed new, stricter rules for Syrian refugees trying to cross the border. They now needed a visa, as well as national security approval to be in Egypt.

"I wish I had been killed in Syria rather than lead this humiliating life in Egypt," says Amer Feras, who came to Cairo after he lost his wife and youngest daughter in the jet attack that Assad's forces launched this January on Homs city, 161 kilometers north of Damascus.

UNHCR Global Report 2012 - Syrian Arab Republic1 Jun 2013 | UNHCR Fundraising Reports UNHCR Global Appeal 2013 Update - Syrian Arab Republic1 Dec 2012 | UNHCR Fundraising Reports UNHCR Global Report 2011 - Syrian Arab Republic1 Jun 2012 | UNHCR Fundraising Reports UNHCR Global Appeal 2012-2013 - Syrian Arab Republic

Surviving in the city: A review of UNHCR's operation for Iraqi refugees in urban areas of Jordan, Lebanon and Syria

2005 UNHCR Statistical Yearbook Country Data Sheet - Syrian Arab Republic30 Apr 2007 | Country Data Sheets 2004 UNHCR Statistical Yearbook Country Data Sheet - Syrian Arab Republic21 Aug 2006 | Country Data Sheets 2003 UNHCR Statistical Yearbook Country Data Sheet - Syrian Arab Republic1 Jan 2005 | Country Data Sheets 2002 UNHCR Statistical Yearbook Country Data Sheet - Syrian Arab Republic

With 4 million people inside Syria who are in need of assistance, including more than 2 million internally displaced people, some 200,000 women will likely be pregnant this year

Spring 2013 — Since the beginning of conflict in Syria nearly two years ago, over a million people, mostly women and children, have been registered as refugees in neighbouring countries. Between December 2012 and January 2013, more than 255,000 Syrians fled the country.

The latest report issued, stated that Egypt is a source, transit, and destination country for women and children trafficked for the purposes of forced labor and sexual exploitation. It is placed in the 2009 United States TVPA Report as a Tier 2 Watch List Country because absolute number of victims of severe forms of trafficking has been significantly increasing over the last year.

we should keep them here, give them residencies and even welcome more of them to come, purely because it is in our best collective interest to do so

Syrians started to come to Egypt

also offering something that Egypt has lacked for a long time: a highly energised workforce who actually want to work and who have a work ethic.

"As soon as we came to Egypt,” he says, “the treatment was really good and we were happy and we didn't feel homesick. But after June 30, everything turned upside down."

Morsi was a strong supporter of the Syrian opposition. But, when he was deposed, there was a backlash against Syrians refugees in Egypt. Some of that backlash was political, but some was economic.

"We've got to see things cooling down and that hopefully the environment would change favorably in Egypt so that the Syrians would recover the open arms and support that they had enjoyed."