Arish, Egypt, June 18, 2010, SPA -- Egyptian border guards arrested nine African migrants from Ethiopia attempting to enter Israel illegally, while another 10 managed to escaped, dpa quoted a security source as saying today. Police said that border guards spotted a group of Africans as they were trying to cross into Israel early on Friday. Nine of the group surrendered after the guards fired warning shots into the air. "The nine detainees said they are from Ethiopia, and that they were originally a group of 19 trying to cross into Israel to find work," the source said. The migrants, held in a prison in the nearby town of al-Arish, confessed to paying 1,000 US dollars each to human traffickers to smuggle them across the border. Egyptian border guards frequently arrest African migrants trying to cross into Israel without papers.
