30,000 Eritreans were abducted, tortured in Egypt's Sinai

PanARMENIAN.Net - Up to 30,000 Eritreans have been abducted since 2007 and taken to Egypt's Sinai to suffer torture and ransom demands, new research says, according to BBC News.

The study, presented to the European parliament, says Eritrean and Sudanese security officers are colluding with the kidnap gangs.

At least $600m has been extorted from families in ransom payments, it says. Victims are kidnapped in Ethiopia, Sudan and Eritrea and taken to Sinai.

Eritrea has denied its officials are involved in the kidnappings.

The UN estimates that 3,000 Eritreans fled their repressive and impoverished country each month last year. Many headed for the swollen refugee camps of neighbouring eastern Sudan, now home to more than 90,000 people.