Twelve Egyptians will be deported to Egypt on Monday after being arrested by Syrian authorities for illegally entering the country.
The Egyptian Embassy in Damascus intervened to release them and return them to Egypt.
The embassy told state-run news agency MENA that so far 100 Egyptians have attempted to illegally sneak into Syria since the beginning of the year.
They were deported to Egypt in batches, he said, adding that the number of Egyptians attempting to enter Syria illegally is increasing at a dangerous rate. The total number of Egyptians arrested for illegally entering Syria last year was 80, he said.
Four Egyptians previously died trying to cross the borders into Syria and Lebanon.
One of them was shot dead at the Lebanese border, while two others died from the extreme cold in the Syrian governorate of Swaida. A fourth one died of a heart attack while attempting to escape into Lebanon.
In January, Egypt withdrew its ambassador to Syria to protest Assad’s crackdown, prompting Damascus to withdraw its ambassador to Egypt.
