The Egyptian Front for Human Rights has issued a statement expressing its deep concern over the increasing deportation of opponents to Egypt under the pretext of combating terrorism.

The rights group saw this as a pattern by which the Egyptian authorities target human rights defenders and political opponents abroad.

It called on the Egyptian authorities to stop targeting dissidents abroad and respect their freedom of opinion and expression. It also called on other Arab countries to stop handing over Egyptian opponents and to respect, guarantee and protect human rights and freedoms in all circumstances. The group said that deporting dissidents to Egypt exposes them to grave risks, including enforced disappearance and torture, and sentencing them to prison terms in highly flawed trials. The group cited several examples of people being deported to Egypt and subjected to enforced disappearance, torture, and denial of the right to a defence.

It stated that since 2013 the fight against terrorism had been used on a large scale to target opponents, adding that Egyptian opponents are still being deported under the pretext of fighting terrorism and loosely formulated accusations.