Darfur Refugees Seek Freedom in Israel

The IDF Ketziot prison recently received some unexpected vsistors.
Some South African papers have picked up the story.

JERUSALEM — Seven refugees from Sudan's war-torn Darfur region are being held in an Israeli prison after a marathon trek which took them across Egypt before they were picked up in the southern Negev desert, the Jerusalem Post reported yesterday. The Sudanese inmates said they were delighted to have made it to Israel, despite their detention in the military run Ketziot prison. "We are happy that we got here. "Israel is a free country and we hope that we will be able to stay," one of the seven told the English-language daily. AFP

You are a Black Muslim refugee from Darfur. You need help desperately. You are surrounded by many African countries who share commonalities based on ethnicity as well as on religion. Where do you run to in order to be treated in a humane and civil manner? Israel.

The two local papers that have reported the story are This Day and the Citizen. It is interesting to compare the two headlines used.

This Day - Israel arrests Sudan refugees
The Citizen - Darfur refugees trek to Israeli jail

I wonder why This Day went for a headline which depicts Israel as an aggressive force arresting poor refugees. Yes Israel arrested them, which is what she is required to do when people illegally cross the border with Egypt. The main point of note in the story is not that Israel arrested the refugees - it is that they chose to trek all the way to Israel.

The full article from Jerusalem Post: "Seven refugees from Sudan reach Negev on foot".

Five of the prisoners arrived in Israel close to two months ago, and another two were brought to the jail last week. The seven say they fled their homes fearing for their lives after civil war and a humanitarian crisis struck their homeland. "We ran away since we were afraid we would get killed," said Aaron, one of the prisoners.

Aaron, in his late twenties, said that his sister and two of his brothers were gunned down by terrorists shortly before his village was demolished. Together with four of his friends, he set out in search of a place of sanctuary, eventually arriving in Israel. "We are happy that we got here," another of the prisoners added. "Israel is a free country and we hope that we will be able to stay."

Read the whole story. The incident is very complicated because Sudan is an enemy of Israel and Israel does not grant political asylum to citizens of an enemy country. Of course they can't go back to Sudan - the best solution may be moving them to Egypt because they entered Egypt prior to entering Israel - and according to international refugee accords Egypt is thus the first country of asylum.

Personally, I hope that Israel grants them asylum, but that could be a dangerous precedent to set.

Comments

[Harambe]

If Israel grants them asylum then it will be nothing more than an attempt to score political points. Israel has to deal with them according to her law. I feel sorry for them, but exceptions cant be made just to make Israel look good.

I agree that they cant be returned to Sudan as is what normally would get done to illegals crossing a border. But Israel shouldn't just grant them asylum either. Israel dhould ensure that they are treated properly - let their immigration deal with it - and send them to a place that grants asylum to Sudanese. Possibly Egypt - but why not South Africa?

[Lubna]

Funny, Israel showing empathy towards refugees while the palestian people are forced to live like animals in refugee camps. Israel is not the place to go to be treated like a human being. These poor souls are better off in Darfur.