Egypt has deported 400 Eritrean asylum seekers back to Asmara and plans to forcibly return 1,200 more who are being held in detention in Egypt

Egypt, already home to tens of thousands of African migrants, has seen a surge of Eritreans arrive in 2008, including Pentecostal Christians fleeing religious persecution and others trying to avoid military conscription, activists say. The surge comes as Egypt faces pressure to block the flow of mostly African migrants over its Sinai border into Israel. Egyptian police have shot dead at least 13 migrants at the Israel border in 2008 and detained scores more.