EGYPT Receives 479 Syrian refugees on Turkish ship

     Port Said, 21 Safar 1434/02 January 2013 (EI/MINA) – Major General Ahmed Naguib Sharaf, head of the Port Said harbors authority, said that 479 Syrian refugees arrived in Egypt Tuesday on board the Turkish Shop Nissos Rodos.

     In a press release, Sharaf said that he ordered all necessary procedures on the ship and also ensured that care was provided for the refugees. All of the contents of the ship, which included 104 trucks and 26 cars, were discharged before the ship’s return to the port of Iskenderun in Turkey.

     The Egyptian-Turkish navigational route was opened in April to transfer Turkish merchandise to Gulf countries via Egyptian harbors, according to an online publication Egypt Independent.

     Sharaf had said earlier that the Port Said harbor had received 1356 Syrians and 140 other foreigners since the route was inaugurated on 28 April until November.

     The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said More than 45,000 people have been killed since the conflict broke out in March 2011, but 39,362 of those perished during the past 12 months, the majority civilians, said the Britain-based watchdog.

     The civilian toll of 28,113 includes those who have taken up arms against the regime of President Bashar al-Assad, it said.

     Government troops suffered heavy losses, with 9,482 people killed, while 1,040 military defectors also were killed in action. Another 727 people in the 2012 toll were unidentified. (T/R-022/R-006)

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)