BALTIM, Egypt —  A grieving Syrian father told Amnesty International about the death of his eight-year-old daughter during an attempt to escape Egypt last month. After being caught with smugglers who were attempting to take the family to Europe, soldiers shot the girl then ignored pleas for help as she lay dying.

According to the August report from Amnesty, about 300,000 refugees from Syria are currently living in Egypt, where they’ve faced repeated “discrimination and human rights violations.”

C. Hulsman: The plight of Syrian refugees is certainly very hard. Many are not able to make a living in Egypt. Others, however, have been able to set up their own businesses. Those who get into the hands of human traffickers are certainly bad off. But would an Egyptian soldier just shoot an eight year old girl and then ignore please for help? Mistakes are made but I cannot imagine this has happened as reported.