Last update - 01:30 15/07/2007
Sudanese refugees moved to jail, longer-term facility being built
By Jonathan Lis and Mijal Grinberg
The "hospitality facility" next to Ketziot Prison in the Negev that was to house African refugees beginning today will apparently not be ready for another two weeks. Hundreds of refugees, including children and teens, will be housed within the prison under conditions described as better than those of regular prisoners.
Avi Dichter, the minister of public security, and his director general last week announced their intention to create a "campsite" to hold the refugees until their deportation. One of the main purposes of the new site was to allow families to remain together. It will take several days before water, electricity and plumbing can be arranged for the site. In addition, legal steps must be taken to authorize the Israel Prison Service (IPS) to permit families to live together within its facilities.
Officials said yesterday that even though the refugees will be behind walls and barbed wire, the atmosphere of their accommodations will not resemble a prison: They will not come in contact with prisoners, but will instead be housed in airconditioned trailer homes, and they will not be subject to head-counts and searches. The IPS has already made preparations for the dozens of children and teens who will be moving in, and has put in place infant formula, diapers and games. Organizers are expected to ask charity organizations to help the IPS meet the challenge of dealing with the new population.
Ketziot is ready to take in about 300 refugees starting this morning, half of them women and minors. For now the latter will be housed in the airconditioned trailers, while the men will be placed in a separate wing that currently houses the Sudanese refugees. In two weeks, once the new site is in place, the families will be reunited. The new facility will have the capacity to house more than 1,000 refugees until their eventual deportation from Israel.
'We'll oppose dumping of refugees'
The Ramat Hanegev Regional Council opposes the establishment of a camp for the Darfur refugees at Ketziot, which lies within its jurisdiction. Yesterday council head Shmulik Rifman sent a letter to Dichter announcing his intention to take administrative and legal steps to prevent the camp's construction. "The decision to erect the refugee camp in the Ketziot area is a continuation of the trend according to which everything that is not wanted in the center of the country is 'dumped' in the Negev," Rifman wrote, "far from the eye and far from the center." The letter added that if the motivation for building the camp is humanitarian then it should be built in a shaded place. Rifman said the solution was to seal the Israel-Egypt border.
A demonstration against the detention and transfer to Ketziot of the refugees will be held tomorrow at 11 A.M. at the Wohl Rose Garden, across from the Knesset in Jerusalem. The demonstration is being organized by Students for Darfur from Jerusalem, students from Be'er Sheva, social activists and organizations that have been aiding the refugees staying in the rose garden over the past several days.