Sudanese refugees wait to find out who can stay, who must go - Haaretz

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Fri., November 30, 2007 Kislev 20, 5768

Israel Time: 20:06 (EST+7)

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		Sudanese refugees in Jerusalem last month. (Tess Scheflan / BauBau)

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Last update - 07:56 12/08/2007

Sudanese refugees wait to find out who can stay, who must go

By Mijal Grinberg

Tags: Sudan, refugees, Egypt

More than a month has passed since Prime Minister Ehud Olmert announced that the interior and defense ministries would collect the names of African refugees in Israel to determine who may stay and who must return to Egypt. Meanwhile, the temporary solutions found for the asylum seekers are beginning to crumble.

The refugees will evidently be divided into three groups. Refugees from Darfur will be absorbed by Israel, migrant workers will be sent back to Egypt, and non-Darfur Sudanese and people from other African countries also will be deported to Egypt.

For the time being, however, no long-term plan exists for the 1,200 Sudanese refugees dispersed throughout the country, cared for by charitable organizations and housed in kibbutzim, private homes or Ketziot Prison. As new problems arise daily regarding health, schooling, housing and jobs, the question remains how long the donations will keep coming to finance the refugees' stay in Israel.

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The only state-provided solution was to bring the refugees to Ketziot Prison. A special facility was built for the women and children, while the men are locked up with the security prisoners. Another tent camp is going up alongside the prison, and will apparently be ready in another few weeks to house men and women together. But Ketziot ran out of room for men a few days ago. On Friday, Border Police in the Ramon region left dozens of male refugees at the prison entrance, but they were sent back for the army to deal with, and ultimately found themselves in Be'er Sheva, at a soldiers' hostel.

Besides the refugees at Ketziot, there are currently some 800 refugees in Eilat, and another 126 at 21 kibbutzim around the country. Still other refugees are staying at the immigrant absorption center in Ibim, in the Negev, and in Tel Aviv rentals paid for by donations. At Moshav Kadesh Barnea, the Pinhas family has taken in 50 refugees.

These temporary solutions give rise to numerous problems, which the volunteers and individual employers caring for the refugees do not have the financial or emotional means to solve.

One of the main problems is the refugees' lack of health insurance. Elisheva Milikovsky, one of the central volunteers working with the refugees, says the group includes dozens of pregnant women, but they have no insurance to cover their medical expenses. Maccabi Health Services has offered to help out with routine medical care; Soroka Medical Center takes care of emergency cases. But at the end of the day, the refugees are dependent solely on goodwill and volunteers. At Kadesh Barnea, a volunteer doctor makes calls. Medications are purchased by volunteers.

Another looming problem is the children. An Education Ministry official says that by law, refugee children must attend schools in the communities where they reside. However, the mayor of Eilat already announced several months ago that he would have trouble finding places for the Sudanese in the city, and that he refuses to do so without the government's help. Kibbutz Movement officials have applied to the Education Ministry, which is reportedly dealing with the matter.

Yoav Stern adds: Egypt announced Friday that it would not accept Sudanese refugees residing in Israel. A statement issued by the Egyptian foreign ministry said that Egypt would refuse to accept any non-Egyptians who infiltrated Israel from its territory. This contradicts statements issued by Olmert's bureau over the past month, according to which an agreement had been reached to return Sudanese refugees who had crossed into Israel from Egypt.

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1.	take away the incentive for them to come	05:11	\|	Anna	12/08/07

2.	Would Haaretz publish my post to Victor the Egyptian	05:18	\|	Tamir Palestine	12/08/07

3.	#1 Good Idea!	07:39	\|	Kate	12/08/07

4.	#1 Anna. Sweet Justice!	10:42	\|	Maureen Ann	12/08/07

5.	Maureen Ann	11:40	\|	Hannah	12/08/07

6.	Place them in Sderot,Israeli dogooders would then perhaps jump to	12:03	\|	Absolute Sweden	12/08/07

7.	Sudanese Refugees?	12:43	\|	Mohamed Osman	12/08/07

8.	It is terrible when your land is taken away from you	15:18	\|	James McNamara	12/08/07

9.	Tamir london	15:23	\|	Upper class	12/08/07

10.	FALSE HANNAH ALERT! #5	16:52	\|	Hannah	12/08/07

11.	Nice post, Kate	19:49	\|	Polybios	30/11/07

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