Beirut: Egyptian police have arbitrarily detained at least 30 Sudanese refugees and asylum seekers, subjecting some to abuse and "forced physical labour", Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on Sunday.
According to three Sudanese refugees and a Cairo-based civil society group interviewed by HRW, police carried out raids on December 27 and January 5, in nearly identical circumstances. Plainclothes police arbitrarily arrested some two dozen refugees and asylum seekers from their homes, coffeeshops, on the street and at community centres. They were taken to a security facility and forced to "unload boxes from large trucks into warehouses" by police, who hurled racist insults and "used batons to beat those who they claimed were not working hard enough".