Last update - 00:00 30/08/2007
In face of criticism, PR campaign to explain Israel's refugee policy
By Barak Ravid and Nurit Wurgraft, Haaretz Correspondents
The Foreign Ministry has launched a campaign to justify Israel's policy on refugees from Darfur who entered Israel but were deported to Egypt.
A great deal of international criticism has been leveled at Israel, mainly by American Jewish organizations, for its treatment of asylum-seekers in general and Darfurians in particular.
The campaign includes disseminating a dossier already sent to Israeli embassies worldwide, meetings with Jewish and American leaders and media campaigns.
One defense of Israeli policy contained in the dossier reads, "Al-Qaida's presence in Sudan means that Israel must be aware that terror operatives might try to infiltrate with the refugees."
Jewish organizations are the leading proponents in the United States of the international campaign to aid Darfur refugees, and have exerted public leverage to promote legislation on the matter. They harshly criticized Israel for its "return upon arrival" policy, whereby refugees are sent to Egypt immediately when caught.
Israel last week deported 50 Africans, mostly from Darfur, to Egypt for the first time.
Israeli diplomats have been instructed to clarify that "the infiltrators are being sent back to Egypt in collaboration with UN refugee agencies and the Egyptian authorities, pending guarantees that they will not be sent back to Sudan."
The diplomats also highlight that Israel does a good deal for the refugees and has even agreed to absorb 500 of them. "Given Israel's size and limited resources, it has taken significant measures," the dossier says. "Israel is well aware of its responsibility as a sovereign state, but we cannot address this complex issue on our own."
Israeli diplomats repeat the message that the majority of Africans crossing into Israel are migrant workers, but only a handful of them are actually from Sudan. They were also instructed to explain that Israel is not bordering Sudan and the countries have no diplomatic ties, and are hence officially in a state of war.
"Those who try to enter Israel depart from sovereign Egypt, thus the original reason for their dislocation no longer exists," the dossier says. "Therefore, Egypt, as a signatory of the International Refugee Convention, is responsible for their wellbeing."
UN: Darfurians deported to Egypt won't be returned to Sudan
The 48 infiltrators whom Israel sent back to Egypt about 10 days ago will not be returned to Sudan, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) told the Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem.
A Foreign Ministry official said UN officials had met with most of the infiltrators in a detention camp in Cairo, but that they had not yet been accorded refugee status.
The Foreign Ministry continues to work with the UN and Egypt to ensure that its treatment of infiltrators is legal, the official said. He added that Israel was also looking into having other countries take in the refugees.
Meanwhile, volunteers from Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) yesterday visited the Sudanese refugees staying at the Be'er Sheva soldier's hostel. "One woman is to undergo surgery tomorrow at Soroka Hospital, and it is unclear who will take care of her when she comes back," PHR chairman Dr. Danny Filc said. "It's absurd that the army holds them there, but doesn't send a doctor," he added.
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