Israel Matzav

Sudanese refugees in Israel

Over the past several weeks, Israel has been overwhelmed with hundreds of African refugees, mostly from the Sudan, for whom it has no solution. These people are not just seeking a better economic situation: in some cases they are literally running for their lives.

My name is Akoon Mou Tsina. I am a refugee from South Sudan and am now being held in Eilat, awaiting deportation. A militia attacked my village, killing my mother and my sister. I have not seen any members of my family since 1998. I was captured by the militia and taken into slavery for three years. A pastor from a Catholic Church helped free me and took me to Egypt in 2002 when I was 17 years old.

In Egypt, I was arrested four times without reason. The Sudanese Embassy kept security around the place where I was sleeping and arrested me once at night. If I had stayed in Egypt any longer I would have been deported back to Sudan because I talked to American journalists about my situation. I know if I am sent back there I will be in danger.

In June 2006, I crossed the border into Israel and am being held in a detention center in Eilat.

Mr. Tsina is smart enough to realize that not all the Sudanese refugees can be settled in Israel:

I understand that Israel is a small country and you cannot take in all those who suffer in Sudan. That is why I am asking for help from Jewish communities around the world. I hope the media, the Americans, and the Europeans will understand how much we need to leave Sudan and help to absorb us into their societies.

Thank you again for all of your help so far.

We already know that all the people who cry 'racism' against Israel couldn't care less about the black refugees from the Sudan.

This short letter really moved me for two reasons. First, because until I read it, I believed (as I suspect many of you do) that most of the Sudanese refugees who are arriving here are seeking a better economic life. Apparently, that's not it. And second, if Mr. Tsina is representative, they understand that Israel cannot take all of them in. Will anyone else help? In the meantime, back in the Sudan, the government is 'embarrassed' that Sudanese refugees are fleeing to Israel (as opposed to anyplace else in the world where it would not bother them).

Hat Tip: Atlas Shrugs

Sudan's interior minister has launched an investigation into why more than 3,000 refugees have entered Israel by way of Egypt.

At a Khartoum news conference Sunday, Interior Minister Zubair Bashir Taha said it was an "embarrassing matter," Ynetnews reported Monday.

"Has Egypt become the gateway to Israel or to Europe? We don't know where these people are headed ... they know nothing about Israel," he said.

There is one thing they know about Israel: that this is a humane society that doesn't go around randomly shooting and torturing people. I guess even in the darkest, bleakest regions of the world, the truth penetrates for those who look for it.

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 10:47 AM