Notorious Human Smuggler Shot Dead; 611 Eritreans Released

Suleiman Abdellah Necklawi, aka “The Sultan”, a notorious Egyptian human smuggler, was killed in a shoot-out by Bedouins of another tribe. Consequently, according to the UNHCR and EveryOne Group, 611 Eritrean refugees who had been held hostage in Egypt’s Sinai have crossed safely to Israel.

Criminal elements within the Sakrawi bedouin tribe had been on the cross-hairs since human rights organization, including EveryOne Group, succeeded in getting US broadcaster CNN to run an expose of their human smuggling and organ theft. The victims are mostly Eritrean, Ethiopian and Sudanese collectively referred to as “Africans” by the Bedouin tribes.

EveryOne Group has alerted the UN’s High Commissioner for Refugees and the Special Rapporteur on Trafficking in Human Beings. Many of the Bedouin tribes, who feel that criminals like Suleiman Abdella Nakhlawi and Samih are besmirching their reputation have been co-operating with investigators and human rights organizations, including Egypt’s own New Generation Foundation for Human Rights, which has conducted videotaped interviews investigating the crimes. The International Criminal Court (ICC) is also expected to be involved in the investigation.

On a per capita basis, Eritrea is the world’s largest exporter of refugees. At various points, the Eritrean regime had argued that this is primarily due to the West’s magnet of providing no-questions-asked asylums and better living conditions. The Eritrean opposition argues that the Eritrean youth would not have left their country at the pace they are if they saw any hope of a better future in Eritrea and that they are leaving to reject a life of conscription without end.