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Egypt deports Palestinian Syrians back to conflict zones

Palestinian-Syrian refugees in Egypt are being forced to choose between deportation to Gaza or Syria as human rights groups denounce the practice.
Palestinians displaced from refugee camps in Syria shout slogans against the Palestinian ambassador in Egypt as they rally outside the Palestinian diplomatic mission during a demonstration demanding recognition of their needs by the Egyptian authorities on April 23, 2013 in Cairo. Palestinians, who are able to, have left their homes in Syria, fleeing to Egypt, Lebanon, the Gaza Strip and other countries where refugee camps have been established following the formation of the state of Israel in 1948 and foll

CAIRO, Egypt — Two Palestinian refugees from Syria, Youssef Farid Youssef and Hamza Issa, currently spend their days and nights at Cairo International Airport in a national security limbo furnished by fast-food chains and onlooking security guards.

The Egyptian government is keeping them here with a choice, of sorts — deportation to the Gaza Strip or Syria — one week after another 13 Palestinian-Syrian refugees traveling with Youssef and Issa were forcibly deported to Damascus on Aug. 14, according to Amnesty International. Among the 13 was Youssef's father, who he says is now staying in a refugee camp in Damascus.

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