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A Sudanese refugee being detained Friday night. (Reuters)
Last update - 04:28 20/08/2007
Government: Darfur refugees will be refused entry into Israel
By Barak Ravid, Mijal Grinberg and Yigal Hai, Haaretz Correspondents and The Associated Press
Tags: refugees, Darfur, Egypt 

The government on Sunday said it would turn away refugees fleeing Darfur and seeking asylum in Israel, after it deported to Egypt for the first time almost 50 refugees that escaped the war-torn region.

"The policy of returning back anyone who enters Israel illegally will pertain to everyone, including those from Darfur," said David Baker, a spokesman for the Prime Minister's Office.

There are currently some 2,500 African refugees in Israel, including roughly 500 from Darfur.
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The government has been struggling with what to do with the refugees, whose numbers have shot up in recent months to as many as 50 a day, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, apparently as word of job opportunities in Israel spread.

Israel Radio reported that PMO officials said Sunday night that Prime Minister Olmert and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak agreed in a phone conversation Sunday that Israel would continue to return to Egypt Sudanese refugees who illegally entered it.

The prime minister instructed the Immigrant Absorption Ministry on Sunday to absorb the Darfur refugees already in the country in Israel. "Those already in Israel will be allowed to stay," Baker said.

This decision, however, is only applicable to Darfur refugees already in Israel, and those who cross the border in the future will be immediately returned to Egypt.

Fighting between pro-government militias and rebels in the Western Sudanese region of Darfur has killed more than 200,000 people and displaced 2.5 million since February 2003.

The refugees deported on Sunday were arrested Friday evening as they tried to cross from Egypt into Israel, and were held for over 24 hours at an IDF base in southern Israel before bussed back to Egypt on Sunday.

IDF figures showed that of the slightly more than 50 refugees deported, close to 50 were from Darfur. The rest were from the Ivory Coast and Somalia.

This is the first instance in which Israel has returned African refugees to Egypt, in accordance with an agreement reached between Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak at the Sharm el-Sheikh summit.

An government official said Egypt has agreed to treat the Darfur refugees well, but acknowledged it might send them back to Sudan. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the matter with the press.

Egyptian riot police violently cleared a refugee encampment in central Cairo in 2005, killing nearly 30 people.

The move comes about two weeks after, amid reports of violent treatment the refugees face in Egypt, 63 MKs signed a document urging the government to refrain from deporting Sudanese refugees to Egypt. The signatories included Likud Chairman Benjamin Netanyahu, Labor's Amir Peretz, Hadash's Dov Khenin and the National Religious Party's Effi Eitam.

The prime minister said Sunday that he welcomes the move. "Mubarak has met his commitments, and this is the first sign of the prevention of infiltration from Egypt to Israel in a free manner."

Hadash MK Dov Khenin said in response that, "The expulsion is an inhumane act that violates international law."

Five of the refugees arrested Friday were taken to Soroka Medical Center in Be'er Sheva.

A Reuters photographer who joined an IDF patrol in southern Israel documented one of the refugees being bound to a chair with plastic handcuffs. According to the IDF, the refugee was handcuffed due to the fact that the army must first treat all infiltrators as security threats, and removes the handcuffs once it is determined that the infiltrator is a refugee.

Darfur refugees form panel to represent their interests
Sudanese refugees in Israel last week formed a committee consisting of 11 elected members to represent their interests.

The refugees began infiltrating Israel through Egypt about two years ago, having fled the genocide in Darfur, where Arab militias have been butchering the black Africans living there.

The refugees are being helped by Israeli aid groups including HaMoked Center for the Defense of the Individual, the Refugee Rights Clinic at Tel Aviv University and the Association for Civil Rights in Israel. In October 2006, the Committee for Advancement of Refugees from Darfur was established as an umbrella organization that works on behalf of some 1,300 Sudanese refugees in Israel.

But last week's election was the first time the refugees have taken such an initiative themselves. The main tasks facing the committee are setting up a learning center for refugees to study Hebrew, English and computer literacy, and raising awareness regarding the plight of those left in Darfur.

The refugees also plan to form a non-profit group to work on resolving problems they encounter in Israel.

The meeting Wednesday opened with a discussion of the refugees' absorption in Israel and their difficult journey here. Photographs documenting their escape hung on the hall's walls.

The audience was made up largely of young people. Speakers emphasized the importance of trying to nurture cooperation with the Israeli public.

"We must think about how the refugee can help another refugee and how we can deepen the connection between the people who come from Darfur and the Israeli public and aid organizations," one 18-year-old leader said.

He added that the refugee issue is a social and political matter with which Israel can and should deal. He mentioned Olmert's announcement several weeks ago that an agreement had been reached with Egypt to return infiltrators. "We hear talk about decisions in Israel to send people back to Egypt, but we think that Israel cannot make such decisions. This is a country with love for people who come from outside," he said.

The young Darfurian suggested that a bond of suffering could unite his people and the Jews, concluding: "We are asking the Jewish people to take us in. We, survivors of the genocide in Darfur, now live in the land of Zion."
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  1.   Welcome Friends and Brothers 06:37  |  Danite 19/08/07
  2.   Please, the phony flattery is embarrassing 06:43  |  McQueen 19/08/07
  3.   This refugee org. will be helping massive waves like in the U.S. 06:44  |  McQueen 19/08/07
  4.   unbelievable arrogance 09:47  |  Jon 19/08/07
  5.   Darfur 10:32  |  Palestinian Brit 19/08/07
  6.   Pal Brit 12:48  |  Margie in Tel Aviv 19/08/07
  7.   From Darfur to northern Sudan then to Egypt and then to Israel 13:52  |  Adel 19/08/07
  8.   Pal Brit # 5 13:54  |  ChanahS 19/08/07
  9.   This is shame and abomination 14:40  |  Shlomo from Tel-Aviv 19/08/07
  10.   Unbelieveable 14:44  |  Yossi 19/08/07
  11.   Good, get rid of them. 14:59  |  Avraham 19/08/07
  12.   Yossi 15:25  |  Leah 19/08/07
  13.   There is only one State for Refugee Jews- many for RefugeeMoslems 15:38  |  Alan 19/08/07
  14.   #8 Chomping Channah cusses 15:39  |  Labhras 19/08/07
  15.   Israelis can no longer use britain`s refusal to allow Jews 15:51  |  Chris Linthwaite 19/08/07
  16.   Darfurian Refugees 16:13  |  Elihu D Richter 19/08/07
  17.   #10 Yossi 16:15  |  * BEN JABO 19/08/07
  18.   Yossi #10 16:16  |  Scientist 19/08/07
  19.   embarrased to be a zionist 16:21  |  Jonas 19/08/07
  20.   #5 Pal Brit - Set the example 16:21  |  * BEN JABO 19/08/07
  21.   McQueen,...booty-hole! 16:32  |  Akiva Patysh 19/08/07
  22.   South Sudan And Egyptian Massacres and Genocides 16:34  |  JewishHeart 19/08/07
  23.   shame 16:47  |  daniel 19/08/07
  24.   Signed a what ? 16:47  |  Shlomo 19/08/07
  25.   We were told Darfur refugees wouldn`t be deported 17:08  |  B 19/08/07
  26.   Why are you shocked? 17:10  |  Palestinian 19/08/07
  27.   Darfur Refugees 17:12  |  Avi Yerushalmi 19/08/07
  28.   Just another vivid example of the fact... 17:14  |  Dutch Dirk 19/08/07
  29.   Deporting Refugees of Darfur 17:23  |  Zamarah 19/08/07
  30.   Sudanese Refugees 17:40  |  Zamarah 19/08/07
  31.   swiss 17:44  |  wh 19/08/07
  32.   Regugees are Chritian Southern Rebels 17:47  |  nobodysacred 19/08/07
  33.   #6 margie of tel aviv 17:48  |  wh 19/08/07
  34.   so.. they get thrown out because they are not jewish?!! 18:00  |  bashar 19/08/07
  35.   #30..Zamarah 18:06  |  Nemesis 19/08/07
  36.   wh 18:08  |  Margie in Tel Aviv 19/08/07
  37.   #15 THE TEACHER AND HISTORY ARE STRANGERS 18:09  |  paul harris 19/08/07
  38.   #10 Well meaing Jews, like youself, will ruin 18:15  |  John Allen 19/08/07
  39.   Darfur refugees 18:19  |  Russell 19/08/07
  40.   #19 If you "love Israel with all your heart and soul" 18:20  |  John Allen 19/08/07
  41.   escaping from Egypt, not Sudan 18:55  |  Ellen 19/08/07
  42.   Hey 26, Palestinian 19:08  |  J 19/08/07
  43.   to Elihu D Ritcher of Jerusalem: Such a hypocrisy? 19:11  |  nobodysacred 19/08/07
  44.   #37 Paul Harris 19:29  |  Chris Linthwaite 19/08/07
  45.   israel and darfur refugees 19:33  |  scanadu 19/08/07
  46.   for dutchman at # 28 19:36  |  scanadu 19/08/07
  47.   bashar at #34 19:43  |  scanadu 19/08/07
  48.   For you were once a stranger 19:43  |  Abraham 19/08/07
  49.   #14 Hey, Labhraht, try russia vodka... 20:26  |  Misha 19/08/07
  50.   # 34 It is a jewish democracy, pal.... 20:36  |  Misha 19/08/07
  51.   Darfur refugees 20:37  |  KUTW 19/08/07
  52.   Wrong again Margie....N0.6 20:50  |  Palestinian Brit 19/08/07
  53.   Disgusted Jew 21:05  |  NYC 19/08/07
  54.   Deportation 21:43  |  NYC 19/08/07
  55.   #50 Misha 21:48  |  Chris Linthwaite 19/08/07
  56.   The surprise is not that Israel would boot them out 21:54  |  Natallie Durson 19/08/07
  57.   we just gave 500 citizenship - thats a lot 21:55  |  Jon 19/08/07
  58.   Misha 22:12  |  bashar 19/08/07
  59.   55Chris Linthwaite 22:21  |  KUTW 19/08/07
  60.   Pal Brit 22:25  |  Margie in Tel Aviv 19/08/07
  61.   #53 disgusted put your money wher your mouth is 22:46  |  victor hardman 19/08/07
  62.   REMEMBER WHERE YOU COME FROM ! 23:07  |  Atilla Karagözoğlu 19/08/07
  63.   This is wrong Pure and Simple 23:22  |  ralphsrant1 19/08/07
  64.   Begin would have done differently 23:28  |  David Olesker 19/08/07
  65.   Reply to Nemesis 23:41  |  Zamarah 19/08/07
  66.   Darfur refugees 23:42  |  parklane 19/08/07
  67.   Change 23:50  |  The Golem 19/08/07
  68.   Darful 23:58  |  Ruth 19/08/07
  69.   Darful 00:02  |  Barbara 20/08/07