Two Eritrean activists from the North East of England, Bini Araia and Sirak Hagos met with William Hague, the British Foreign Secretary today to discuss the deteriorating situation in the Sinai desert.

Mr Hagos represents a charitable organisation called Investing in People and Culture (IPC) and Mr Araia represents a local campaigning group established to raise concerns about human trafficking and slavery in Sinai. Mr Araia had previously met the Foreign Secretary on the 13th of July 2012 to discuss the same issue in which the Foreign Secretary promised to raise the concern directly with the Egyptian president. The Foreign Secretary kept his promise and raised the matter with the Egyptian president to resolve the problem and also reiterated that he will continue to press the issue. He said he would maintain regular contact with the Egyptian Government on human rights issues to urge that full respect for human rights, including protection for minorities and accountability of the security forces, be enshrined in the new Egyptian Constitution. He also said that he has been in contact with the UNHCR office in Cairo.

The two activities are determined to continue the campaign and will continue to work with the Foreign ministry to see actual fruits on the ground.