Islamic Movement steps in to care for Sudanese refugees left in Be'er Sheva

This weekend the Islamic Movement stepped in to care for about 60 African refugees, many of them from Sudan, who had found their way to the Bedouin community of Lakiya. The latest chapter in the refugee saga began Thursday night, when the Israel Defense Forces released 42 people, including about 15 children, in the Be'er Sheva industrial zone of Emek Sarah. Bedouin living in an unrecognized village at the site brought them food and water and alerted the media.

At that late hour, the main issue was finding a place for them to sleep. One of the two local volunteers who answered the Bedouin request for help called up Amal al-Sana, who heads the Arab-Jewish Center for Equality, Empowerment and Cooperation (AJEEC). Someone arranged for transportation, and they all went to AJEEC headquarters in the Old City of Be'er Sheva. A few university students rounded up some mattresses, and local Likud activist Yossi Geller found food for them all.

In the morning, the volunteers began examining their options. Even if work can be found for the singles in the group, at hotels in the Dead Sea or Eilat, there was still the matter of the weekend. The families were in a more difficult position. Most of the hotels want single workers only. Sana started making phone calls.

It is the Islamic Movement that pitched in, offering accommodations and taking up collections of food and clothing in the mosques.

Geller brought breakfast rolls and croissants, a volunteer physician who could come to the makeshift shelter was located. Other volunteers collected money for medications and to buy toys for the children. No representatives from any government agency were in the picture.

A bus came to take the refugees to Lakiya, where they go to a tent in the women's embroidery center. The head of the Islamic Movement in Lakiya, Ahmed al-Sana, arrived. He welcomed the newcomers. Finally, someone spoke to them in their own language, Arabic.

The leader of the group was asked to identify himself. William, he said.

"William Shakespeare," Sana asked? Everyone laughed. The ice had been broken.

In the meantime, clothes were collected in the local mosque. That night, the guests were invited to a wedding in the village. The next day, the story was repeated: Fifteen Sudanese, eight of them from Darfur, were brought by the IDF to the entrance of district police headquarters in Be'er Sheva. The police refused to take them in.

Word reached the media, which arrived yesterday morning. The refugees, who included four children, were still there. Some were taken by volunteers to Soroka Medical Center. A couple of the children had chicken pox. The remainder were taken by Ibrahim in his passenger van to Lakiya.

Amal al-Sana welcomed the latest group to Lakiya. Each one's personal details were recorded, and arrangements for the next day (today) were sought. The single adults would go to work in hotels, while the families would probably be brought to a church in Jerusalem. There were almost 60 refugees in the tent in Lakiya by now.

The IDF announced that another 25 had been detained, only a handful of them from Sudan. The Immigration Police had no room.

The Islamic Movement, with the possible cooperation of the Kibbutz Movement, is planning a solution that is also a protest: the creation of a refugee camp in Be'er Sheva.