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| Agnes Samson Nagune Isharo lives at Israel's Ketziot Prison. Adam Reynolds/Special to The Christian Science Monitor |
Israelis extend mixed welcome to Sudanese
Israelis weigh concerns about their moral responsibility and the refugees' economic and demographic impact.
from the August 31, 2007 edition
Page 2 of 4
As it struggles with a response, the government is faced with the concerns of many Israelis who say that their nation, created to offer haven for Jewish refugees, should be particularly sensitive to those today in need of refuge. At the same time, Israel's proximity to Africa raises concerns about opening the door to unlimited numbers of refugees as well as economic migrants, especially given its ongoing demographic struggle to maintain an identity as a tiny state that is both Jewish and democratic.
Some refugees, like Agnes, are being jailed here at Ketziot Prison – the women and children in colorful, air-conditioned facilities that are more like shelters, the men in regular cells. Others are finding housing and work on farming communities known as kibbutzim and with individual families willing to take them in, thanks to a coalition of advocacy groups that has argued for "alternative custodies."
"The rationale we convinced the judges of is that, on the one hand, there's no place to put them or absorb them, and yet there's no way to deport them [given current policy]," says Romm Lewkowicz, spokesman of the Hotline for Migrant Workers.
But while Israel has avoided sending large groups back until now, that approach looks likely to change. A week ago, 48 Sudanese were turned away at the border before they had a chance to enter Israel and apply for refugee status. Human rights activists say that enforcing this new policy, dubbed "hot return," violates nonrefoulement, which says that countries should not return refugees to the country from which they're fleeing before they've had a chance to have their cases considered for UN refugee status.
"We think it's clear there's a good chance that those who have been in Israel will be killed [if they return]," says Eitan Schwartz, the spokesman for the Coalition for the Advancement of Refugees from Darfur (CARD), an umbrella group.
"These distinctions, from Darfur or from elsewhere in Sudan, are political: These people escaped atrocities and those people escaped atrocities, and we think it's our responsibility to let them in. The problem is, anyone who's been here can never enter Sudan safely again," Mr. Schwartz says, pointing to a recent Sudanese statement that citizens who've been in Israel would be dealt with severely. (Israel and Sudan do not have diplomatic relations.)
The tension between what some see as Israel's moral responsibility and its economic and demographic concerns has been evident in the mixed political reactions. A slew of politicians signed a petition this summer demanding that Darfur refugees not be forcibly returned. In July, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert ordered the defense forces to "apprehend infiltrators and quickly return them to Egypt via the border crossings, while accepting Egyptian assurances regarding their safety." Egypt, however, said it would not accept refugees who'd been in Israel.
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