Egyptian border guards have arrested 14 Sudanese and two Eritreans who were allegedly trying to illegally cross from Egypt into Israel seeking employment, a police officer in the northern Sinai Peninsula said Friday.

The Sudanese, who were arrested separately in groups of seven, were arrested at two different border crossings near Rafah, Capt. Mohammed Badr said.

All the Sudanese, who carry temporary asylum permits from Egypt, and the Eritreans, a man and a woman, told police that they paid money to some Bedouins to help them cross into Israel to find better jobs.

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Human traffickers smuggle about 200 people from Egypt into Israel each year, according to the Israeli groupmnPhysicians for Human Rights.

Egypt has long accused some of the Bedouin tribes in the Sinai Peninsula of smuggling weapons, drugs and people into Israel and the Gaza Strip. Egypt and Israel frequently accuse one another of not doing enough to seal their border and prevent smuggling.