Last update - 00:00 25/06/2007
Refugees spur tension between IDF, police, immigration officials
By Yuval Azoulay, Haaretz Correspondent
The growing problem of African refugees stealing into Israel from Egypt has contributed to an increasingly acrimonious relationship between the Israel Defense Forces and the police and immigration authorities.
The army is complaining that the civilian authorities are "passing the buck" and have forgotten their responsibility and the role of the IDF.
"Does the army know how to provide formula and diapers to children of refugees? Does the army deal with registration and giving [refugees] medical examinations? Someone forgot what the role of the IDF is along the Israel-Egypt border," a military source said.
Just this past month, more than 600 refugees from Sudan, Eritrea, the Ivory Coast and Ethiopia have crossed into Israel from Egypt.
In at least once instance, the IDF delivered a busload of refugees to the police station of one Negev town, only to have that same busload delivered to the gate of the headquarters of Southern Command in Be'er Sheva.
"There are dozens if not hundreds of refugees from African countries throughout the country and no one knows a thing about them. The only registry that exists in Israel about them is in the possession of the IDF. This is an absurd situation. Where is the Immigration Administration?" the IDF source said.
Since the disengagement from the Gaza Strip in 2005, the IDF has allocated more forces to patrol the 250-kilometer border with Egypt, because of fears of heightened efforts by terrorists to carry out attacks in Israel.
However, nearly every night the patrols are confronted with refugees sneaking into Israel.
The Immigration Administration refuses to deal with African refugees, mostly from Sudan, because the absence of diplomatic ties with Israel means that they cannot be sent back to their countries.
For its part, the police is quick to blame the IDF for not doing its job: "The IDF should close down the border with Egypt hermetically, so refugees will not be able to enter Israel. If the Immigration Administration would have to deal with these refugees, in a week all the holding areas would be full and they will stay that way for more than a decade - because it will not be possible to send them back to their countries."
Also Sunday, the body of a Sudanese refugee was found near Eilat. He is believed to have been shot in Egypt and managed to cross into Israel, where he collapsed.