Internal Security Minister Avi Dichter
Photo: Amir Cohen
Dichter: IDF responsible for keeping infiltrators out
Minister tours makeshift camp for African refugees, says military should be working to keep infiltrators from entering Israel rather than arresting them after they've crossed the border
Internal Security Minister Avi Dichter toured the "tent city" built adjacent the Ketziot prison to house the dozens of African refugees who infiltrate Israel via the Egyptian border on a daily basis.
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The construction of the site was announced last week by Dichter and is meant to provide a temporary solution for hundreds of infiltrators who come from countries with whom Israel does not have an extradition agreement.
The encampment is separate from the rest of the prison and the infiltrators are not subject to the same limitations as Ketziot inmates. For now the site can house up to 160 people, all of whom are currently women and children.
Space for an additional 200 people has been prepared within the prison itself for adult men, at present less than a dozen men are being housed at the Ketziot site – all economic migrants from Eritrea.
Dichter said the Israeli Prison Service will eventually create room for over 1,000 infiltrators.
"We've decided to establish a facility which will be capable of taking in all the infiltrators that we have no solution for instead of just having them wander the streets of Eilat, Beersheba or Jerusalem," said Dichter.
"The infiltrators classified as 'refugees' only constitute 10 percent of the total number, which stands at around 3,000. The government will decide how many refugees the country can take in and the appropriate authorities will deal with them," he said.
Waiting for Mubarak
Dichter said he hoped that Egypt would live up to the promises it made last month during the Sharem el-Sheik summit and take back the infiltrators that crossed its border."If memory serves, Egypt was supposed to give us its final answer today (Tuesday)," said Dichter.
He also said that erecting a fence along the entire stretch of the Israeli-Egyptian border would not prevent infiltrations, but it would certainly bring to a drop in arms smuggling.
"I hope the IDF seals the border in such a way that the infiltrators realize that it simply isn't a worthwhile risk to cross the border into Israel. Defending the border is the army's responsibility, it is doable and it should be done. Successful infiltration is possible when orders are not carried out – those who will not carry out orders when there isn't a fence, won't carry out orders when there is a fence," said Dichter.
Shmulik Rifman, chairman of the Ramat Negev local municipality, joined Dichter's visit to the facility. Rifman objected to the establishment of such a site, saying that the Prison Service is legally obligated to release the infiltrators within 60 days. "And then what? They'll just roam the Negev," he said.
