ISRAEL - AFRICA
Israel to absorb 500 Darfur refugees
Sunday, September 23, 2007
The Israeli government agreed to grant residency to some 500 Darfur refugees, but said it would expel all other Africans who had entered illegally from Egypt.
Sunday, September 23, 2007
By AFP
The Israeli government agreed on Sunday to grant residency to some 500 Darfur refugees after months of public debate, but said it would expel all other Africans who had entered illegally from Egypt.
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's cabinet appointed a ministerial committee which is expected to grant legal residency to 498 refugees from Darfur who have illegally crossed into the Jewish state through its nearly 200 kilometre (120-mile) desert border with Egypt, a senior government official told AFP.
"All other refugees from African countries who are already in Israel as well as those who enter after today will be expelled to a third African country," another official said.
It was not immediately clear what exact legal status the Darfur refugees would be granted. A committee headed by former police chief Yaakov Ganot will examine the issue in the coming weeks.
Interior Minister Meir Sheetrit recently told AFP that he supported naturalising the Darfur refugees who have crossed into Israel in recent months along with about 3,000 other Africans.
Israeli authorities have been grappling in recent years with a steady flow of refugees from Darfur, African and Asian countries who cross from Egypt.
After Israel agreed with Egypt to send refugees back across the border, their numbers have declined -- 150 Africans entered in September compared with 900 in July, the official said.
In addition to the Darfur refugees, there are currently around 1,700 refugees from other regions in Sudan, along with 700 from Eritrea and 600 from the Ivory Coast, according to the United Nations.
About 200,000 people have been killed in Darfur since conflict broke out between government and rebel forces in 2003, with a further two million people forced to flee their homes.
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's cabinet appointed a ministerial committee which is expected to grant legal residency to 498 refugees from Darfur who have illegally crossed into the Jewish state through its nearly 200 kilometre (120-mile) desert border with Egypt, a senior government official told AFP.
"All other refugees from African countries who are already in Israel as well as those who enter after today will be expelled to a third African country," another official said.
It was not immediately clear what exact legal status the Darfur refugees would be granted. A committee headed by former police chief Yaakov Ganot will examine the issue in the coming weeks.
Interior Minister Meir Sheetrit recently told AFP that he supported naturalising the Darfur refugees who have crossed into Israel in recent months along with about 3,000 other Africans.
Israeli authorities have been grappling in recent years with a steady flow of refugees from Darfur, African and Asian countries who cross from Egypt.
After Israel agreed with Egypt to send refugees back across the border, their numbers have declined -- 150 Africans entered in September compared with 900 in July, the official said.
In addition to the Darfur refugees, there are currently around 1,700 refugees from other regions in Sudan, along with 700 from Eritrea and 600 from the Ivory Coast, according to the United Nations.
About 200,000 people have been killed in Darfur since conflict broke out between government and rebel forces in 2003, with a further two million people forced to flee their homes.
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