Sudanese nationals currently living in Egypt’s capital Cairo have disputed what Khartoum described as mistreatment of its nationals in Egypt.

The Sudanese embassy in Cairo previously announced that a deliberate detention campaign against Sudanese nationals increased significantly in Cairo. The embassy added that it received information that the Sudanese nationals in Cairo were mistreated by the police authorities and national security.

Abdel-Rahman Nassif, Media Adviser in the Egyptian embassy in Khartoum, has now denied reports attributed to spokesman of the Foreign Ministry that Sudanese nationals are targeted in Egypt.

Nassif told Radio Tamazuj that detention of the currency traders by the Egyptian authorities doesn’t spare anybody. He added that the Egyptian Foreign Ministry spokesman, Ahmed Abu Zeid said in a statement that the Sudanese nationals were not deliberately targeted, pointing to isolated cases only.

Several Sudanese citizens further told Radio Tamazuj from Cairo that Egypt is safer than their homeland. They said the crackdown on currency traders in the black market targets all nationalities including Egyptians, not only Sudanese.

"They were working as currency traders, they were working in the black market which can affect the Egyptian economy. It is natural for the Egyptian government to fight it, so there is no any harassment at all," said one of the Sudanese citizens in Cairo.

In a related development, various media outlets reported that at least 15 Sudanese were shot dead by Egyptian security in the Sinai Peninsula while trying to cross into Israel.