Subscribe to Print Edition | Thu., January 31, 2008 Shvat 24, 5768 | | Israel Time: 20:52 (EST+7) web haaretz.com   Back to Homepage Rosner's Domain Diplomacy Defense Jewish World Opinion National Print Edition Advertising Books Arts & Leisure Business Real Estate Easy Start Travel Week's End Anglo File

African refugees at a Tel Aviv shelter (Nir Kafri) Last update - 20:50 29/01/2008 T.A. mayor to PM: Help treat African refugees before crisis erupts By Yigal Hai, Haaretz Correspondents Tags: Tel Aviv, Darfur, Israel  The Tel Aviv municipality is in urgent need of the government's assistance in order to avoid "what is turning into a humanitarian crisis" among the African refugees living in the city, Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai wrote in a letter sent Tuesday to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. In the past year, 2000 Afrcan refugees, mostly from Eritrea, Sudan, Darfur and the Ivory Coast have arrived in Tel Aviv, 700 of them in the past few days alone. According to Huldai, the city hall has opened a number of municipal shelters for the refugees and have supplied them with basic necessities such as mattresses, blankets, medicine, education. Advertisement However, Huldai warns that the conditions in the temporary shelters are bad and that the city cannot support the refugees on their own. "In the past few days," Huldai writes, "we are witnessing a dramatic rise in the number of refugees that the government has passed on to the city upon their release from Ketziot prison." "Dozens of additional refugees arrive every day, and the municipality does not have the resources to continue to supply them with shelter and the basic services they deserve." Huldai stated that the city was receiving assistance from volunteer organizations however "unfortunately, our request for government aide has fallen on deaf ears." The Tel Aviv mayor asked Olmert to "hold an urgent meeting with the relevant government officials in order to solve this national problem before it becomes a humanitarian crisis". Related articles: IDF has held African refugees in soldiers' hostel for three weeks Influx of African refugees puts strain on Tel Aviv's shelters Prisons Service: No more space to absorb Sudanese refugees Bookmark to del.icio.us   Painful lessons The IDF has already learnt lessons of the Second Lebanon War. Brothers in guilt 'We are all guilty; is an effective summary of the final Winograd report.   1.   No way! 22:45  |  CHGODMK 29/01/08   2.   Distribute them to countries condemning Israel as apartheidracist 01:20  |  common sense 30/01/08   3.   Exactly, #2 common sense 03:18  |  Polybios 30/01/08   4.   to nonsense 08:15  |  Puhi 30/01/08   5.   The Beautiful People 13:37  |  Khana Feiler 30/01/08   6.   Common sense 06:39  |  Kobi former swede 31/01/08   7.   Time for Israel to take some responsability 20:31  |  Susan 31/01/08

Today Online Olmert allies: PM won't quit despite damning war probe report Responses: 81 Jewish group to build 200 new homes in East Jerusalem Responses: 135 Winograd: Current use of cluster bombs not in line with int'l law Responses: 54 Israel says Libya unworthy of seat on UN Security Council Responses: 37 Israel Harel: Public shares blame for mistakes in war Responses: 13 Rosner's Domain The campaign for Darfur has achieved all its goals - but one Has the era of Orthodox women rabbis arrived? (WTR) Rosner's Guest: Too many Jewish organizations? Poll: Is there a "constant virulent campaign" against Obama? Back to divestment from Israel (WTR) More Headlines 18:27 Opposition leader Netanyahu: Olmert is incompetent, unfit to lead 20:41 Solana, Blair to travel to Middle East next week to discuss Gaza border crisis 17:30 Lebanon: Winograd war probe report sets scene for future war 20:48 visiting U.S. singer Badu says backs Farrakhan, Palestinian cause 20:40 Brazil judge bans carnival float depicting naked Holocaust victims 15:35 Peretz: Lebanon War was missed opportunity, but was necessary 16:56 IDF kills Palestinian approaching Israel border in southern Gaza 20:50 Cut in Internet cables off Egypt causes outages across Mideast to India 16:53 Egypt blocks Gaza cars from Sinai, pedestrians still entering 13:55 Shekel hits 10-year high against dollar as U.S. interest rates cut 18:48 U.K. Conservative likens European Parliament to Nazi Germany 16:18 German authorities charge 22-year-old man with stabbing rabbi 20:18 Jerusalem to build city's first non-Orthodox secular burial site Previous Editions Select Day 30 jan 29 jan 28 jan 27 jan 25 jan 24 jan 23 jan 22 jan 21 jan 20 jan 18 jan 17 jan

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