عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
Arab World

Egypt Pardons 1,920 Prisoners in Honor of Sinai Liberation Day

A presidential pardon for prisoners in Egypt (Egyptian Interior Ministry)
A presidential pardon for prisoners in Egypt (Egyptian Interior Ministry)
TT
20
TT

Egypt Pardons 1,920 Prisoners in Honor of Sinai Liberation Day

A presidential pardon for prisoners in Egypt (Egyptian Interior Ministry)
A presidential pardon for prisoners in Egypt (Egyptian Interior Ministry)

Egypt released on Sunday 1,920 prisoners after a presidential pardon in honor of Eid Al-Fitr and Sinai Liberation Day.

The Ministry of Interior said that the community protection committees held meetings to determine who is qualified for a pardon during a ceremony held for the first time inside a rehabilitation and correctional center.

The committees released 1,920 inmates within the framework of the Ministry's keenness to implement the punitive policy to provide care for the inmates and activate the executive role of the methods of releasing the convicts who have been qualified.

Meanwhile, the Presidential Amnesty Committee continued to receive requests from families of political activists and debtors, parties, and community entities to release other prisoners.

The Pardon Committee announces lists of pardons for detainees.

Authorities released earlier dozens of detainees pending various cases in parallel with the launch of the National Dialogue under the auspices of President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi.

The President reconstituted the "Presidential Amnesty Committee" last April and called for a national dialogue among the various political factions, except the Muslim Brotherhood organization, which is classified as "terrorist."

According to a statement by the Ministry of Interior, Egyptians received the initiative well.

The Ministry said the initiative comes in light of continuing to enhance the spirit of active participation with citizens, confirming its keenness to activate the social role in securing various occasions and celebrations.

Most Viewed

 
Arab World

Cyprus Says Syria Will Take Back Citizens Trying to Reach the Mediterranean Island by Boat

Migrants stand behind a fence inside a refugee camp in Kokkinotrimithia outside of capital Nicosia, Cyprus, on Friday, Feb. 5, 2021. (AP)
Migrants stand behind a fence inside a refugee camp in Kokkinotrimithia outside of capital Nicosia, Cyprus, on Friday, Feb. 5, 2021. (AP)
TT
20
TT

Cyprus Says Syria Will Take Back Citizens Trying to Reach the Mediterranean Island by Boat

Migrants stand behind a fence inside a refugee camp in Kokkinotrimithia outside of capital Nicosia, Cyprus, on Friday, Feb. 5, 2021. (AP)
Migrants stand behind a fence inside a refugee camp in Kokkinotrimithia outside of capital Nicosia, Cyprus, on Friday, Feb. 5, 2021. (AP)

Syria has agreed to take back any of its citizens intercepted trying to reach Cyprus by boat, the Mediterranean island nation's deputy minister for migration said Monday.

Nicholas Ioannides says two inflatable boats, each carrying 30 Syrians, were already turned back in recent days in line with a bilateral search and rescue agreement that Cyprus and Syria now have in place.

Officials didn't share further details about the agreement.

Cypriot navy and police patrol boats intercepted the two vessels on May 9th and 10th after they put out a call for help. They were outside Cypriot territorial waters but within the island's search and rescue area of responsibility, a government statement said. They were subsequently escorted back to a port in the Syrian city of Tartus.

Ioannides told private TV station Antenna there’s been an uptick of boatloads of migrants trying to reach Cyprus from Syria, unlike in recent years when vessels would primarily depart from Lebanon. Cyprus and Lebanon have a long-standing agreement to send back migrants.

He said Cypriot authorities and their Syrian counterparts are trying to fight back against human traffickers who are supplying an underground market for laborers.

According to Ioannides, traffickers apparently cut deals with local employers to bring in Syrian laborers who pick up work right away, despite laws that prevent asylum-seekers from working before the completion of a nine-month residency period.

“The message we’re sending is that the Cyprus Republic won’t tolerate the abuse of the asylum system from people who aren’t eligible for either asylum or international protection and just come here only to work,” Ioannides said.

The bilateral agreement is compounded by the Cypriot government’s decision last week not to automatically grant asylum to Syrian migrants, but to examine their applications individually on merit and according to international and European laws.

From a total of 19,000 pending asylum applications, 13,000 have been filed by Syrian nationals, according to figures quoted by Ioannides.

Since Assad was toppled in December last year and a new transitional government took power, some 2,300 Syrians have either dropped their asylum claims or rescinded their international protection status, while 2,100 have already departed Cyprus for Syria.

Both the United Nations refugee agency and Europe’s top human rights body have urged the Cyprus government to stop pushing back migrants trying to reach the island by boat. Cyprus strongly denies it’s committing any pushbacks according to its definition.