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Sudanese refugees (flash90)
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| By Israel Insider staff August 19, 2007 |
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In a decisive move to address the African refugee crisis, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert announced on Sunday that Israel has agreed to absorb 500 refugees from Darfur among the 2,800 Africans that have illegally entered into Israel.
"Those who have entered Israel illegally from Egypt will be returned to Egypt," government spokesman David Baker said, according to the Jerusalem Post. "These people are illegal economic migrants and will be returned."
Israel will allow Sudanese who fled Darfur to stay in Israel or find them a "humanitarian solution," he said, without identifying where they would be sent.
Olmert expelled close to 50 Sudanese refugees on Saturday night and sent them to Egypt, where they sought refuge before coming to Israel, causing uproar among human rights advocates.
The prime minister said Sunday that he welcomes the move. "Mubarak has met his commitments, and this is the first sign of the prevention of infiltration from Egypt to Israel in a free manner."
Several government ministers have urged the government to secure its border with Egypt to prevent the illegal infiltration of African migrant workers into Israel.
Hadash MK Dov Khenin called the expulsion "an inhumane act that violates international law," according to Haaretz.
Last Wednesday, upon their own initiative, a group of 11 elected members of the committee of Sudanese refugees in Israel took to the stage in Tel Aviv University's Webb Hall at a conference.
"We must think about how the refugee can help another refugee and how we can deepen the connection between the people who come from Darfur and the Israeli public and aid organizations," one 18-year-old leader said.
The young man alluded that a bond of suffering could unite his people and the Jews, saying "We are asking the Jewish people to take us in. We, survivors of the genocide in Darfur, now live in the land of Zion."
In the end, the Jewish state met his pleas.
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