When: Wednesday, 26 September, 11.00

Where: 6Q2, Jozsef Antall building, European Parliament

With: Green MEP Judith Sargentini, Prof dr Mirjam van Reisen, Meron Estafanos

At this press conference Green MEP Judith Sargentini, Prof dr Mirjam van Reisen and Meron Estafanos will present the shocking results of research by the University in Tilburg (the Netherlands) concerning human trafficking in the Sinai. The press conference will be followed by a hearing together with victims of these cruelties. The reseachers interviewed 130 hostages and (former) traffickers on the situation of refugees in the Sinai. Refugees are being held hostage to obtain ransoms from their families in Europe. The researchers have proof of excessive torture, high ransoms of up to 40,000 dollars and cruelty to women and children. The aim of the report is to give a voice to people in hostage situations, in the framework of failures in international responsibility for the protection of refugees.

Prof. Mirjam van Reisen, Ph.D., is the founding director of Europe External Policy Advisors (EEPA), a research centre of expertise on European Union external policy based in Brussels. Meron Estefanos is a human rights activist, journalist, radio presenter for Radio Erena (www.erena.org) and co-founder of International Commission on Eritrean Refugees, based in Stockholm, Sweden.