The High Court of Justice on Sunday rejected a petition regarding a group of
Eritrean migrants who had been waiting on the Egyptian side of the Sinai border
fence.
From the group of 21 migrants, 18 were deported. Three were
allowed entry; this was done out of goodwill and humanitarian concerns,
according to the government, and not out of a recognition of any international
law obligations.
It was unclear what the court could do since the 18
migrants’ fate had already been decided and resolved by the
government.
As a result, the court dismissed the petition.
The
petitioners were furious that the government had taken action after the initial
court hearing on Thursday and before the court could rule on Sunday.
They
demanded that the government at the very least give an accounting of how it had
made its decision, what happened to the deportees and address any potential
violations of the migrants’ rights through the deportation.
The
petitioners asserted that the migrants’ rights had been violated and that the
government had thrown them into a dangerous situation in Egypt without any
thought for their welfare.
However, the court did not want to stake out a
position on any of the issues before it, and decided not to address the issues
for any future similar events, in light of the fact that the migrants’ fate for
which the petition was filed was now beyond the power of the
court.
Moreover, the court instructed the petitioners that if they wished
a report from the government, they first needed to approach the government, and
only afterward could they check if there was a basis to file a new petition to
the court on that issue.