Egyptian authorities on Sunday arrested 35 African migrants who were trying to cross the border illegally into Israel from the Sinai peninsula

Egyptian authorities on Sunday arrested 35 African migrants who were trying to cross the border illegally into Israel from the Sinai peninsula, a security official said.A first group of 25 Eritreans were detained as they tried to climb over barbed wire into Israel from the Sinai desert, the official told AFP.Another group of six Eritreans and four Comorans were arrested south of the Rafah border crossing, he said."During police questioning, the migrants said they were headed to Israel to look for jobs and had each paid smugglers 300 dollars to help them cross," the official said.The porous 250-kilometre (155-mile) Egypt-Israel border has become a major transit route for migrants, asylum-seekers and drug smugglers.So far this year, 20 migrants have been killed making the crossing and 608 have been arrested.
In a report published on Wednesday, Amnesty International urged the Egyptian government to launch an investigation into the killing by police of people crossing the border illegally.