Last update - 00:00 25/06/2007
IDF renews jailing of Sudanese refugees after two-month hiatus
By Mijal Grinberg, Haaretz Correspondent
Israel has renewed the jailing of Sudanese refugees who steal into the country along the Egyptian border.
On Sunday, Israel Defense Forces soldiers jailed a number of Sudanese men they found on the streets of Be'er Sheva, while their women and children were left to manage on their own.
The jailing policy, which was carried out until April of this year, caused humanitarian problems as the women and children found it difficult to fend for themselves in a foreign country while the heads of their family were locked up in prison. Furthermore, the jailing policy created a lack of space in prisons.
Due to the overcrowding of prisons and the objection of civil rights groups who aide foreign workers and refugees, the IDF put an end to the jailing policy two moths ago. Although this change in policy was not formally announced, Israel ceased jailing the asylum seekers.
In the past two months, the IDF would arrest the refugees but leave them outside the police stations since the IDF is not allowed to hold refugees for more than 24 hours. Non-profit organizations would then pick the refugees up off the street, treat them, and help them find jobs.
The change in policy led to a leap in the number of refugee infiltrators seeking asylum in Israel. In the past month, 600 African refugees crossed the border from Egypt to Israel.
The growing problem of African refugees stealing into Israel from Egypt has contributed to an increasingly acrimonious relationship between the IDF 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.
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.