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Cairo: Egypt has deported 400 Eritrean asylum seekers back to Asmara and plans to forcibly return 1,200 more being held in Egypt, a rights group said on Friday.
Amnesty International said that the asylum seekers were flown back to Eritrea since Wednesday and that they were at serious risk of torture.
"Most asylum seekers returned to Eritrea are likely to be arbitrarily detained incommunicado in inhumane conditions from weeks to years...They will be at serious risk of torture or other ill-treatment," Amnesty said.
Amnesty activist Mohamed Lotfy said that women and children were among those deported.
"We remain seriously concerned about the situation, again, because the group includes women and children," said Abeer Etefa, a spokeswoman for United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Cairo.
Deportation of Eritreans is in direct contradiction to United Nations rules that advises states against deporting rejected asylum seekers on the grounds that they may be ill treated.
Egyptian Foreign Ministry officials had no immediate comment.
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