Seven members of the Cape Town-based anti-crime group, People Against Gangsterism and Drugs (PAGAD), were among scores of people detained by Egyptian authorities in Cairo this week. They are in the country to participate in the Global March to Gaza.

ALSO READ: CNN – Thousands head to Egypt in bid to break Israel’s Gaza blockade

The march is an international demonstration to draw attention to the humanitarian crisis in Palestine. The demonstration is aimed at leading them to Egypt’s Rafah border crossing with Gaza.

Longer version of the first video. At Cairo Airport, participants are being held in multiple areas—including the tarmac and inside the terminal—with their passports confiscated and security forces surrounding them. pic.twitter.com/5LT6ySMNs6

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According to PAGAD spokesperson Cassiem Parker, the delegation landed in Cairo in the early hours of Tuesday morning.

“They went through the processes as normal immigration. And when they were about to collect their luggage for screening, they were called aside by the security and said they are being detained and with the possibility of being deported,” Parker said.

He further noted that the group lost communication with the detained members shortly after they were taken aside.

“We reestablished communication briefly at about 6 o’clock in the morning. They confirmed that they were being held in a detention facility at the airport, but that they were still under threat of being deported,” he added.

PAGAD described the detentions as politically motivated.

“This is a clear indication of Egypt’s complicity in the genocide of the Palestinian people,” the group claimed in a press statement on social media.

After about 11 hours in custody, the PAGAD members were released, apparently without any formal explanation from authorities.

“They still asked why were we kept for 11 hours, and they were not given any explanation, they were just told they can go,” said Parker.

Further to this, Parker said as members were making their way to their hotel, they were informed of raids being carried out at some hotels where other detainees were staying.

“Some of those hotels were being raided by the security. And this also alarmed our delegates,” he said.

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The march is scheduled to start on Friday. Parker noted that it appears it will still go ahead as planned.

PAGAD said that its members remain committed to participating in the march.

“They are sort of excited to continue, and they feel that it is necessary to show the support for the people of Gaza, and to show that the humanity there is in support of the defense of the children of Palestine,” Parker explained.

PAGAD, widely known for its anti-gangsterism campaigns in the Cape Flats, framed its participation as part of a broader humanitarian stance.

“If we’re sensitive to the children here, we must also be sensitive to the children elsewhere that [are] suffering,” Parker stated.