Rome, Italy, Sep 14, 2011 / 23:46 pm
A leading Catholic charity is urging the upcoming Egyptian government to help free several hundred hostages being held captive by human traffickers in the country’s northern Sinai Peninsula.
“How much suffering must be endured before their cries of pain will be heard by the international community? The new Egyptian government must intervene to free the hostages,” says Father Mussie Zerai of the Habeshia Agency for Development Cooperation on Sept. 14.
Fr. Zerai said he just received a call from a woman who was being held hostage along with 53 others in Sinai. The group set off from Sudan some time ago, having paid $3,000 for help getting across the border into the more economically prosperous Israel.
“But once they arrived in Rafah they have been sold to another group of traffickers,” Fr. Zerai explained. The refugees are now being kept in the basement of a building until they pay more than $28,000 each. According to the account given to the priest, the group is also being beaten and tortured.