People arriving at the central bus station in the city of Tel Aviv during weekends, can see refugees from the Sudan and Eritrea standing or sitting there in groups. According to sources in the aid center for foreign workers, the current number of refugees who have infiltrated into Israel now stands at 28,000. Why have they come to Israel?

[Mekhonen, Eritrean Refugee]:
"To come to Israel it's not very easy. People, they are not coming to Israel because they are hungry, they don't have to eat; they have everything in their country. But there is no peace, no democracy, that's why they are here.In fact, the only problem is there is no peace in Africa. Many… 99% of the African leaders are dictators. People have no right to work, have no right to speak, have no right to do anything inside their own country."

According to International law Israel has signed, it is the refugees’ right to seek shelter and not be deported to their native land, where they stand to face persecution or danger to their lives. After they are caught crossing the border illegally they are held in prison pending the completion of their status check. Their incarceration is in accordance with the international refugee treaty.

A lawyer working in the aid center for foreign workers gave us further details.

[Jonatan Berman, Lawyer, Foreign Workers’ Aid Center]:
“On the one hand Israel applies a positive policy towards these refugees and acknowledges the fact they cannot be sent back to their native countries. On the other hand, they are imprisoned in some limbo, or judicial vacuum, where their appeals to receive shelter are not reviewed.”

The refugees’ status in Israel is unstable, and they are well aware of it. Nevertheless, they keep infiltrating into the country in various ways.

We turned to the spokesman of the Israeli Prison Authority asking whether children of the refugees are held with their parents. We received his reply in writing:

“The Prison Authority holds people who have been arrested while crossing the border in a special facility. After receipt of the proper approval from the Ministry of the Interior, their incarceration is in accordance with all the decrees and procedures requested and they are entitled to medical care, social care, food, clothing, educational activities, leisure activities, etc. Minors are kept with their mothers. In case they arrived without their parents, they are held in a separate facility after an age and medical condition check.”

There is a difference between a person seeking shelter whose appeal has not been approved, therefore making his stay in Israel illegal, and a refugee who has been granted official shelter in the country.

[Jonatan Berman, Lawyer, Foreign Workers’ Aid Center]:
“The approach of the Ministry of the Interior is that they do not want to allow shelter seeking and wish to encourage them not to arrive to Israel but to try other countries. Therefore, they do not acknowledge them as refugees.”

Yet, there are those who have been staying in Israel as refugees for a long period of time.

[Oscar Olivier, Refugee from Congo]:
“I have very good relations with people. I have friends who are like family to me. I’ve learned the language and the culture, I feel like a citizen and people accept me as if I was one. Still, I can say that because of the bureaucracy I am not a real citizen, I feel as if I were a foreigner, or even an enemy.”.

We approached the Ministry of the Interior for their response in this matter. But our repeated appeals for an official government response have not been answered.

Reporter:Janet Zrian       Photographer:Michael Ash
NTD, Tel Aviv, Israel