Christian Solidarity Worldwide has criticised the Egyptian government for failing to take action to secure the release of Eritrean refugees being tortured in the Sinai desert.

Bedouin human traffickers are holding a group of refugees and asylum seekers hostage in purpose built facilities south of Rafah on Egypt’s border with Israel.

They are reportedly torturing the survivors to extract a further $8,000 per person, in addition to the $2,000 they already received from each person for transfer to Israel.

According to CSW, the refugees have been repeatedly beaten and “branded like cattle”, and are being deprived of sufficient food and water.

There are reports that some in the group have been forced to drink their own urine and that several men were told their organs would be harvested in lieu of payment.

According to Italian NGO Agenzia Habeshia, four women in the group were gang raped on Saturday for failing to pay the ransom, while the health of a pregnant woman has deteriorated after being badly beaten.

Despite alarm voiced by the Pope, the European Parliament and the UNHCR, the Egyptian government has made no move to secure the release of the refugees.

Small groups of hostages were released in batches in December and transported to Israel but only after friends and relatives manage to stump up the huge ransoms.

CSW Advocacy Director Andrew Johnston said: “The continuing plight of the refugees in the Sinai desert is an indictment on humanity and on the international community.

“Human trafficking is modern day slavery; it is an international crime that spans national borders.

“Tackling it is therefore the responsibility of all nations, yet despite the increasing profile of this case, there has been no effective action.

“International pressure must be maintained until the Egyptian government takes its responsibility for the welfare of refugees seriously, and acts to end the inexcusable suffering of these unfortunate people.”

Italian NGO EveryOne Group suggested the inaction on the part of the Egyptian government may be down to conditions in the 1978 Camp David Accords which require Egypt’s troops on the border with Israel to be only lightly armed.

The Bedouin traffickers are heavily armed and their encampments can only be searched.

The group warned: “If Egypt and Israel fail to sign a new agreement on the Sinai, trafficking in migrants, slaves, children and human organs will continue in the future.”

Last month, the traffickers murdered two Orthodox deacons who were among 100 Eritrean refugees separated from the larger group, which also includes Sudanese, Somalis and Ethiopians.

It is believed the deacons were singled out for punishment and killed for alerting human rights groups about the refugees still being held by the traffickers.