Rights defenders tell about fate of Dagestanis detained in Egypt

The residents of Dagestan detained in Cairo, including women and children, were placed in the deportation prison for further deportation to their homeland; they are deprived of advocates' and consular help, the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial" has stated today.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that the Russian Embassy in Cairo requested explanations from the Egyptian authorities after a resident of Dagestan had reported kidnapping of his relatives. According to his version, in March and April, in the capital of Egypt, armed people kidnapped 18 residents of Dagestan, including 10 children.

As of May 1, the Dagestan detainees were in the deportation prison of one of Cairo's airports. The Egyptian authorities were preparing them for deportation, the HRC "Memorial" has stated today with reference to several eyewitnesses.

In Cairo, special operations to detain people from the post-Soviet countries have been held regularly since December 2017; the last such operation was held at night of May 2, the HRC reports. "Those detained during such special operations are deprived of any legal and consular assistance; it is difficult for their relatives to communicate with them; and the legal procedures that accompany their deportation are not transparent," the today's message posted on the website of the HRC "Memorial" reports.

Agents of unknown Egyptian power structures are conducting raids; they break doors in apartments rented by immigrants from the CIS countries and take away from them all electronic gadgets, told a Russian woman living in Egypt, whose name rights defenders do not disclose for safety reasons. She said that law enforcers never explained the reasons for detention either to detainees or to their relatives.

"After about 10 days in prison, all the detainees had their visas annulled and were deported with no explanations," the HRC quotes the woman's letter on the website.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.