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More than 40 Canadians who plan to participate in the World Marche in Gaza in Egypt have been detained and their passports confiscated by the authorities, organizers told CBC News.
A group of 83 Canadians arrived in Cairo on Wednesday and Thursday, before the Planned March On the Egyptian border with Gaza, an attempt to draw attention to the in -depth humanitarian crises with which the Palestinians faced an Israeli blockade of the territory torn by the war more than 20 months after the start of the attacks.
Tatiana Harker, a member of Palestine Vivra Montréal and coordinator of March, said that Canadians were one of the thousands of other demonstrators on the way to Al-Arish, where they were to start a three-day walk to Rafah in Egypt with Gaza to hold a peaceful demonstration.
“Many people are detained, left in the [heat] Without any response, for two to three hours, “CBC News told CBC News in Montreal on Friday.
Harker said the Egyptian authorities had confiscated their passports to a checkpoint in the city of Ismailia of the Suez Canal on Friday without providing any reason.
“THE [Canadians] contacted the Canada Embassy in unanswered Cairo. Our government completely ignores us. “”
Global Affairs Canada said in a statement before CBC news that she advises Canadians to avoid all trips to northern Governat in Egypt and Gaza.
“Canadians who choose to travel to the region do so at their own risk,” he said on Thursday.
More activists detained after previous deportations
The demonstrators were made by bus to the coastal city of Egypt of Al-Adrish to participate in the 48-kilometer walk on Friday, sleeping in tents along the Rafah crossing path. The Canadian organizers told CBC that the authorities did not allow the bus demonstrators there and had to find other modes of transport to reach Al-Arish.
After reaching the Rafah region, they plan to camp there for about three days more before returning to Cairo, according to the coalition websiteAlthough he noted that a large part of their plans will depend on the authorization of Egyptian officials.
On Friday, the Egyptian authorities arrested more activists who were one of the demonstrators joining the planned march of 80 different countries, while the Eastern Security Forces blocked a convoy of activists en route to meet them.
The world march on Gaza had to be among the biggest events of this type in recent years, coinciding with other efforts, including one Boat carrying activists And help that was intercepted by Israeli soldiers on the way to Gaza earlier this week.
Friday, the organizers said that the authorities had confiscated passports of 40 people planning to walk at a checkpoint outside Cairo, where they are detained in the heat. Others are detained in hotels. They urged the officials of the countries of origin of activists to push Egypt to release their citizens.
Friday’s detentions occur after hundreds of arrival in Cairo have already been detained and deported to their country of origin in Europe and North Africa. Before the authorities confiscated their passports, the activists declared that they planned to meet in a campsite on the Sinai road to prepare for the march on Sunday. They declared that the authorities had not yet given them the authorization to travel through Sinai, which Egypt considers a very sensitive area.
“We continue to urge the Egyptian government to allow this peaceful march, which aligns the stated commitment of Egypt to restore stability at its border and attack the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza,” the militants said in a statement.
Group to refrain from demonstrating for the moment
Hicham El-Ghaoui, one of the group’s spokespersons, said they refrain from demonstrating until Egypt authorizes their protest.
The planned demonstrations have thrown an uncomfortable projector on Egypt, one of the Arab countries which has suppressed pro-Palestinian activists while it publicly condemns aid restrictions and calls for the end of the war.
Alexis Deswaef, a Belgian human rights lawyer, said that he woke up dozens of security vehicles filled with uniform officers surrounding Talat Harb Square on Friday, where he and other activists had found hotels. Members of his group have swayed in the hall as security entered, by holding a guide and asking an assistant officer to reserve taxis at the Pyramids of Giza, where they have since been.
“I am so surprised to see the Egyptians doing the dirty job of Israel,” he said in the pyramids. He hoped there would be too many activists at the new meeting point outside Cairo for the Egyptian authorities to be able to stop en masse.
Meanwhile, an aid convoy traveling by land from Algeria picked up new participants along the route in Tunisia and Libya, but was arrested in the city of Sirte, about 940 kilometers from the border of Libya-Egypt.
The efforts – the activist Flotilla, the land convoy and the planned march – occur while the international outcry develops on conditions in Gaza.
Israel has continued to hit the territory with air strikes while limiting the flow of trucks carrying food, water and drugs that can enter, affirming that it applies pressure on Hamas to disarm and release Israeli hostages.
