Sudanese find refuge in kibbutz near Eilat
After roaming Israel for many long hours, Sudanese refugees finally find compassion from southern kibbutz after Omer regional council, resort city of Eilat refuse them entry
Omer council chairman, Pini Badash said, "The Negev is not a solution to a problem that the Israeli government cannot solve. The government must stop the refugees from entering Israel and turning the Negev into one vast refugee camp."
After hours of talks in Jerusalem, it was decided to send the busses southward towards Eilat. But the resort city refused to let the refugees enter, despite assurances made by the Fattal Hotel complex that it would take them in.
A solution was only found late in the evening, after the neighboring Kibbutz Eilot volunteered to take the refugees.
The group will be put up in the kibbutz's 'Magic Sunrise hotel' and the 'Eilot View' bed and breakfast.
Saturday night, like every other night, dozens of Sudanese, as well as residents of other African countries, infiltrated the Egyptian border into Israel in search of employment.
IDF soldiers on patrol for terrorist infiltrations apprehended the group and took them to a nearby military base where their identities were verified. There is currently no official State body responsible for handling the refugee situation.
When the IDF captures Sudanese refugees, they are transferred to the police station in Beersheba or the Immigration Administration in Omer.
The police have said the refugee matter is not their responsibility, saying the IDF should be tasked with caring for them.
The Immigration Administration said that detaining the Sudanese was akin to sentencing them to death since there is no possibility for them to get out of jail because Israel did not have extradition agreements with the Sudan.
In addition, they stated, the detention facilities are overcrowded and sometimes even non-Sudanese infiltrators are not put in detention due to lack of space.
No official help
The refugees receive help from volunteer organizations and students who work hard to ensure that the refugees, who have already been put through a living hell, at least have food, water and a place to sleep at night.
Many Sudanese are in kibbutzim, working in hotels in Eilat and the Dead Sea and staying as guests at hotels in Beersheba. They are scattered, in fact, all over the Negev.
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Egyptian President Hossni Mubarak reached an agreement in the matter of the non-Sudanese refugees during the Sharm el-Sheik summit last week.
According to this agreement, 800 border infiltrators will be returned to Egypt. These include hundreds of Africans (from Chad, Eritrea and the Ivory Coast) and several dozen eastern Europeans citizens, mostly from Georgia.
The government has not decided on a solution for the Sudanese yet as it is feared that returning them to Egypt, and through Egypt back to Sudan, would put them in mortal danger.
Roi Mendel and Ronny Sofer contributed to the report
