Israel to Turn Away Darfur Refugees

[Purveyor]

Source: Associated Press

Israel said Sunday it will no longer allow refugees from Darfur to stay after they sneak across the border from Egypt, drawing criticism from those who say the Jewish state is morally obliged to offer sanctuary to people fleeing mass murder.

Israel has been grappling for months over how to deal with the swelling numbers of Africans, including some from Darfur, who have been crossing the porous desert border.

The number of migrants has shot up to as many as 50 a day, according to the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, apparently as word of job opportunities in Israel has spread. The rise has led to concerns that the country could face a flood of African refugees if it doesn't take a harsher stand on asylum seekers.

But Israel has not turned back refugees from Darfur until now, and last month Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said a limited number would even be allowed to remain in Israel. On Sunday, without explanation, a government spokesman said all new asylum seekers would be sent back to Egypt, with no exception.


Read more: http://www.abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=3498700

[Name removed]

1. Deleted sub-thread

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[fujiyama]

2. I'm impressed that Israel was taking in non Jewish refugees

I did not know this.

But Israel is a small nation and it is difficult absorbing many asylum seekers. I know there were quite a few difficulties in the early nineties when many emigrated from Russia.

I hope other nations will do what they can to take in those affected by the genocide in Darfur.

[question everything]

6. Israel also took Muslim refugee from Kosovo

during that bloody war.

[bemildred]

3. How the hell did Israel get appointed to take in refugees from Sudan?

No offense, I don't get it? Israel has no border with Sudan, right? So what is Egypt doing about the problem?

[Sam Ervin jret]

4. The ancient history of the people of Israel and Africa, exclusive of the country of egypt, ...

for obvious reasons i.e. moses and the exodus, has always been one of great mutual respect and assistance. From the times of the siege of the city of Jerusalem the Cushites (sp?) came to the assistance of King Hezekiah. They were reputed to be best allies and well spoken of. Moses was said to be married to a woman of this tribe. The ties between the people of Israel and the people of Africa are to be respected in their historic and moral character. As with all alliances there have been times of testing. I hope the ties that have bound these peoples in the past will allow them to see past any modern preconceptions of one another and carry them both through what appears to be trying times for both.

[bemildred]

5. Yeah, good thoughts to all of them, past and present.

I still don't see how these people get all the way through Egypt without anybody taking notice of them or trying to help them. I'm not saying Israel should not help them, I'm saying everybody, anybody, should help them.

[Behind the Aegis]

8. And what does that tell you?

They travel through Arab/Muslim lands trying to get to the war-engaged Israel? A better life awaits them there.

[Scurrilous]

9. "We don't want to be the Promised Land for African refugees.."

Israel detains Darfur refugees in desert 'prison'

<snip>

"In the five years since the Janjaweed militia attacked his Darfur village and burned his father alive, Ismail, 42, has been on a quest for freedom. Since then, he has endured torture in Khartoum, and constant fear on the streets of Cairo where police raids and beatings have become routine for Sudanese refugees.

Now, as he camps out in a park across from the Israeli parliament, where he and his family are seeking refuge after a treacherous two-day journey across the Sinai desert, he once again fears imprisonment.

A detention camp in a remote, desert prison complex, reminiscent of those used to house Jews who fled to Palestine after the Second World War, will open today to hold survivors of the genocide in Darfur who are seeking refuge in Israel.

The opening of the detention camp has provoked anguished debate within the Jewish state, itself founded as a place of refuge for Holocaust survivors, as Israelis wrestle with the moral question of whether to offer sanctuary to the predominantly Muslim refugees."

<snip>

"But supporters of the camp say it is needed, to enable authorities to sift through all those caught infiltrating Israel through its porous desert border with Egypt. Their number includes an estimated 1,500 illegal immigrants from Africa who have come in search of work, and hundreds of eastern European women smuggled in for the sex trade.

"We don't want to be the Promised Land for African refugees," said Miri Eisin, a spokeswoman for the prime minister, Ehud Olmert, who said new arrivals would have their refugee status determined at the detention camp. Those without legitimate claim are to be immediately sent back."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/07/15/wcamp115.xml

[Behind the Aegis]

10. "Those without legitimate claim are to be immediately sent back"

So, they still want to come to Israel, the land of opportunity! Yet, there are those here who expect Israel to absorb all those refugees, but think nothing of the fact that their Arab/Muslim brothers don't give a FUCKING SHIT to their plight! Just shows, anti-Israeli bigotry is an acceptable form of hate.

[The Stranger]

12. Overreact much?

Unless Egypt somehow ceased to be an Arab and predominantly Muslim country, it would appear that their "Arab/Muslim brothers" do "give a FUCKING SHIT of their plight." That reaction is completely inappropriate.

And taking in 50 persons per day is not asking that much. Simply take less than that, if need be. 10 persons per day? That cannot be too many.

[Behind the Aegis]

13. Egypt reacts

Flight From Darfur Ends Violently in Egypt

The Sudanese refugees had fled across Sudan's northern border into Egypt over the past several years, escaping wars in their home country. In Egypt, the refugees said, they found little help from international agencies and almost no jobs -- and they faced discrimination and occasional deadly attacks by Egyptian security forces. Now, the refugees are pressing farther north across Egypt into Israel, hoping for jobs and safety in the Jewish state. As many as a third of the refugees attempting the crossing into Israel come from Darfur, a region of western Sudan where Arab fighters allied with the Sudanese government attack African villages and refugee camps in a campaign that President Bush and others have labeled genocide.

---snip---

Egypt regards its border with Israel a military zone, and anyone trying to cross it is considered an infiltrator. Egypt has tried about 50 of the refugees in military court in the last six weeks, said Bilal Amr, an attorney representing some of the refugees before military tribunals in the city of Ismailia, on the Sinai Peninsula. The men, and women without children, have been sentenced to one year in prison. Amr's clients in recent weeks included a Sudanese man carried into court on the back of a fellow defendant, Amr said; both of the man's legs had been shattered by bullets when he was captured by Egyptian security forces.

Since July, Egyptian border guards have repeatedly used lethal force on the unarmed refugees. Egyptian security forces confirm shooting and wounding two Sudanese men in separate incidents at the border in the first days of July. Israeli soldiers told news media that they watched on Aug. 1 as Egyptian guards shot and killed two Sudanese refugees at the border, then dragged two other refugees from the border and beat them to death with rocks.

The beaten and bound body of another Sudanese man was found near the border on Aug. 8. Egyptian officials said the man likely was killed in a money dispute with Bedouin guides. Israeli media quoted officials there as saying Israel has surveillance video proving the man was shot by Egyptian security forces.

source

[The Stranger]

19. No dispute that Egypt has allowed millions of refugees in and Israel has ceased allowing any.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sudanese_refugees_in_Egypt

Sudanese refugees in Egypt

There are tens of thousands of Sudanese refugees in Egypt, most of them seeking refuge from ongoing military conflicts in their home country of Sudan. They live among a much larger population of Sudanese migrants in Egypt, more than two million people of Sudanese nationality (by most estimates; a full range is 750,000 to 4 million (FMRS 2006:5) who live in Egypt. The U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants believes many more of these migrants are in fact refugees, but see little benefit in seeking recognition.

http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db900sid/AMMF-763JD3?OpenDocument

Returns

Refugee returns

- Since 2005, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has assisted over 66,000 refugees to return home to Southern Sudan and the Three Areas, through organized and assisted voluntary repatriation movements.

- Since 01 January, 36,490 refugees have received assistance to return to the Sudan from the Central African Republic (CAR), the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Libya, and Uganda. The UNHCR expects that by the end of 2007, a total of 102,000 persons will have returned from the countries of asylum during the year.

http://www.wcc-coe.org/wcc/news/press/00/18feat-e.html

Between two and five million Sudanese have come to Egypt in recent years, and more are arriving every week. African refugees from a dozen other countries have also sought protection in Egypt. The Sudanese face a difficult time in Egypt. They are not permitted to work, very few are recognized as refugees, and economic conditions are difficult.

[barb162]

15. Then please explain this story of Egyptian police killing the refugees

since the Egyptians give such a shit and all

Cairo vigil remembers police killing of Sudan refugees
Saturday 30 December 2006 00:30.

Dec 29, 2006 (CAIRO) — Egyptian rights activists held a candlelit vigil in central Cairo alongside a heavy police presence to commemorate the killing of 28 Sudanese refugees when police stormed their camp a year ago.
snip
On December 29, 2005 thousands of riot police wielding batons and water cannon stormed a protest camp of refugees and asylum seekers near the offices of the UN refugee agency, leaving 28 Sudanese dead and hundreds injured.
snip


http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article19503

[The Stranger]

18. That response is a bullshit non-sequiter and you know it.

But even you can't avoid the obvious reality that Egypt has taken in thousands of these people and Israel refuses to take one handful per day.

Barb, how long did you spend digging that up? Try not to waste both of our time and stick to the subject at hand, Barb.

[barb162]

21. Quit changing the subject.

Egypt reluctantly "tolerates" the refugees to live in the streets when it's not outright discriminating against them, beating them or killing them.

Oh, and though it's neither here nor there, it took next to no time to dig up the article as I remember it and other articles describing the way the Egyptians are treating these refugees. You should be reminded that Egypt is an enormous country compared to Israel and Egypt can easily handle thousands of refugees in a far better manner than it has been doing.

[USA_1]

11. "We don't want to be the Promised Land for African refugees,"

Zionist Israel proclaims itself to be biblically sanctioned. If there is any truth to that claim, it must comply with the Bible's law of sanctuary which requires treating refugees as if they are your own children.

[barb162]

14. Egypt shouldn't be killing their Muslim brothers from Africa

Cairo vigil remembers police killing of Sudan refugees
Saturday 30 December 2006 00:30.

Dec 29, 2006 (CAIRO) — Egyptian rights activists held a candlelit vigil in central Cairo alongside a heavy police presence to commemorate the killing of 28 Sudanese refugees when police stormed their camp a year ago.


Some Sudanese protesters praying as they were sprayed with water canon during a forceful evacuation of thousands of Sudanese refugees on their third month protest outside UN offices in Cairo, Dec 30, 2005 (AFP)"We organised the vigil in memory of the dead, who included seven children," said Wagdi Abdel Aziz, who heads the Al-Ganub (South) Centre that organised the event.
snip
On December 29, 2005 thousands of riot police wielding batons and water cannon stormed a protest camp of refugees and asylum seekers near the offices of the UN refugee agency, leaving 28 Sudanese dead and hundreds injured. snip



http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article19503

[Scriptor Ignotus]

7. I hope Israel changes its mind on this issue

but let's remember one of Israel's finer moments:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/january/5/newsid_4071000/4071661.stm


also, I saw this is in the article:

That the refugees are from Sudan further complicates the matter, because Israeli law denies asylum to anyone from an enemy state. Sudan's Muslim government is hostile to Israel and has no diplomatic ties with the Jewish state.

[barb162]

16. The Egyptian government should be welcoming these refugees

instead of killing them or having them flee through Egypt to Israel for fear of death in Egypt. I hope you don't consider this one of Egypt's finer moments as to Sudanese refugees.

http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article19503http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article19503
Cairo vigil remembers police killing of Sudan refugees
Saturday 30 December 2006 00:30. Printer-Friendly version Comments...

Dec 29, 2006 (CAIRO) — Egyptian rights activists held a candlelit vigil in central Cairo alongside a heavy police presence to commemorate the killing of 28 Sudanese refugees when police stormed their camp a year ago.


Some Sudanese protesters praying as they were sprayed with water canon during a forceful evacuation of thousands of Sudanese refugees on their third month protest outside UN offices in Cairo, Dec 30, 2005 (AFP)"We organised the vigil in memory of the dead, who included seven children," said Wagdi Abdel Aziz, who heads the Al-Ganub (South) Centre that organised the event.

"But most of all to remind people of the tragedy that refugees live around the world and especially in Egypt, where they are denied all rights," he said.

On December 29, 2005 thousands of riot police wielding batons and water cannon stormed a protest camp of refugees and asylum seekers near the offices of the UN refugee agency, leaving 28 Sudanese dead and hundreds injured. snip

[Joffan]

17. Israel has taken about 500 refugees already

which would be about 80 Dafur refugees per million Israelis. It would be interesting to see a comparison of how many refugees other countries have taken.

[Phx_Dem]

20. Why are increasing #s of Sudanese fleeing Egypt for Israel?

Scurrilous posted this in another thread--good analysis imo.

Here today, gone tomorrow

Why are increasing numbers of Sudanese refugees fleeing Egypt for Israel, asks Gamal Nkrumah

Stories are rife about an increase in the numbers of Sudanese refugees fleeing Egypt for Israel. Dozens of Sudanese are reported to have crossed the border into Israel under the cover of darkness. Smuggling rings in Israel and Egypt are taking advantage of the desire of Sudanese refugees in Egypt to seek greener pastures in Israel and are making a killing out of the business.

Anecdotes began to circulate among the restive Sudanese refugee community in Egypt about the perils of the journey to Israel almost a decade ago. One apocryphal tale centered on Sudanese asylum seekers who, after being caught on their way to Israel were thrown into Egyptian jails .

Israel has never been a cheap destination for impoverished Sudanese asylum seekers, and their presence is as fractious there as it is in Egypt.

While the problem is not new it is getting "worse" according to the Israelis. Khamis, one of the first Sudanese to cross the border from Egypt to Israel maintains that he does not regret the move. "In Israel Sudanese can earn $4 per hour. In Egypt such a wage is unheard of. Moreover, medical care and educational opportunities are far better in Israel than in Egypt."

Another Sudanese refugee in Israel, Daniel, described his ordeal. "We were smuggled across the wilderness of Sinai at night. There were Egyptian and Israeli military patrols and we were in constant danger of hitting a minefield. It was a hellish journey but we made it to the 'Promised Land'," he said.

Such stories have prompted many Sudanese to make the dangerous journey across the Sinai wastelands to Israel where, according to Mike Kagan of the American University in Cairo, some Sudanese refugees live for free on Israeli kibbutz's.

The human trafficking has taken the Israeli and Egyptian authorities by surprise. When Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert paid a visit to Sharm El-Sheikh last June, ostensibly to discuss the stalled Palestinian-Israeli peace process, it later transpired that the main topic of discussion was the repatriation of the Sudanese refugees in Israel, many of whom are languishing in Israeli jails. The Israelis apparently wanted reassurances from Egypt that the Sudanese refugees would not be deported to Sudan upon their return to Egypt. At a press conference at the end of his meeting with Mubarak, Olmert disclosed that Egypt had pledged not to deport any returning Sudanese refugees. Egyptian officials declined to comment. Indeed, so sensitive is the subject it has received little coverage in the Egyptian press beyond occasional reports of Sudanese being caught trying to illegally cross the border into Israel.

Last week, it was reported that a group of Sudanese and Ethiopians were detained in the Suez Canal city of Ismailiya on suspicion of planning to cross into Israel illegally. According to the latest statistics, 24.5 per cent of the estimated 4,000 Sudanese in Israel are from the predominantly Muslim war-torn western province of Darfur. The bulk of Sudanese in Israel, an estimated 61 per cent, are from southern Sudan.

Excessively harsh socio-economic conditions and racist attitudes in Egypt seem to be the main reason why Sudanese refugees want to relocate to Israel. Of the Sudanese refugees now resident in Israel 71 per cent report verbal and physical abuse as the main reason for their fleeing Egypt. Some 86 per cent had refugee status with the UNHCR in Egypt, though those crossing the border spent an average of six months in detention upon arrival in Israel. Others are subject to indefinite detention.

Sudan is considered an enemy state by the Israelis and Sudanese refugees are viewed as suspect. This is especially the case with Muslim Sudanese from Darfur and northern Sudan. Southern Sudanese are culturally more attuned to Israeli culture, and Israelis warm up to them. "The Israelis are suspicious of us because we are Muslim," complained a Sudanese originally from Darfur.

Israeli Interior Minister Ronnie Bar-On says the problem of Sudanese refugees in Israel is one of numbers. He argues that if Israel relaxes its immigration policy as far as Sudanese refugees resident in Egypt are concerned the country would be inundated with refugees. "We will invite a flood," he said.

The December 2005 Mustafa Mahmoud Mosque incident, when police violently cleared a garden square of an encampment of protesting Sudanese refugees, killing many in the process, has had a negative impact on the refugees' view of Egypt. The numbers of Sudanese seeking to cross into Israel rose dramatically after the incident. The Israelis want Sudan's immediate neighbors to improve the conditions of refugees on their territory. There are an estimated 400,000 Sudanese refugees in Kenya, 400,000 in Chad and 100,000 in Egypt. Yet on the UN human development index, Israel stands at 23, Egypt at 111 and Kenya at 152. Chad is among the world's poorest and least developed nations and Sudan is not far behind.

Many Sudanese cross into Israel from the Red Sea resort of Taba to work in hotels in the adjacent Israeli port of Eilat. Egypt is not under any legal obligation to take Sudanese refugees back.

The Egyptian authorities want to see more humanitarian assistance from wealthier nations for Sudanese asylum seekers. Some European countries are prepared to accept a select number of Sudanese refugees from Israel. About 50 Sudanese refugees were recently resettled in Sweden. They can never return to Sudan where they face capital punishment for having lived in Israel in the first place.

Sudan has consistently refused to establish diplomatic relations with Israel. Any Sudanese national who visits Israel is automatically charged with high treason. Yet with the violence in Darfur continuing Sudanese are fleeing their country in ever-increasing numbers. Israel, among the wealthiest countries in the region, will continue to attract Sudanese refugees and Egypt will remain the conduit.

http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2007/856/eg9.htm