Since 2005, thousands of refugees and asylum-seekers – many fleeing conflicts in Africa – have crossed into Israel through its border with Egypt. As one of the initiators of and a signatory to the United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees (1951), Israel is bound by law to provide refuge for individuals fleeing countries deemed unsafe by Israel or international authorities on refugees, such as the United Nations High Commission on Refugees (UNHCR). Moreover, Israel cannot send asylum-seekers back to any country where their lives would be endangered, according to the principle of “non-refoulement,” outlined in the Convention and International Law. Though some of the recent arrivals are migrant workers seeking a better life, many are asylum-seekers; of those, hundreds have fled the ongoing genocide in Darfur. As such, Israel is obliged to provide asylum and consider their requests for refugee status, according to the abovementioned legal obligations.
The crux of Israel’s refugee crisis stems from the fact that it has enacted few, if any, of the approved steps for determining refugee status, as outlined in the UN Convention. According to its legal obligations, Israel must examine each case individually, allow asylum-seekers to meet with UN representatives and request asylum, investigate the authenticity of the asylum claim, and allow them to meet with official human rights workers who would inform them of their rights and grant them refuge if the criteria were met. In reality, the procedure for examining asylum requests is based on an internal, unpublished directive within the Interior Ministry. Moreover, citizens of “enemy states” do not receive protection in Israel according to State regulations and must be relocated to another country. These include, among others, survivors of the genocide in Darfur because Sudan is an “enemy state”.
ACRI ardently advocates in the legal and public spheres for fair treatment of asylum-seekers and refugees. ACRI is also an active member in the Refugees’ Rights Forum, which works to promote recognition of the rights of asylum-seekers and refugees in Israel.
Resources of Refugees and Asylum-Seekers:
Refugees are not Criminals, Infiltrators or Someone Else’s Problem! A Public Campaign to Mark World Refugee Day, June 2010
The Infiltration Prevention Bill – Lies and Reality, February 2010
Asylum Seekers and Refugees in Israel: August 2009 Update, A report by the Refugees’ Rights Forum, August 20, 2009
End “Hot Return” on Israel-Egypt Border, September 25, 2008
Draft Law would Imprison Asylum-Seekers and Refugees for 5 years, June 2008
Court Rejects Petition on Condition of Asylum-Seekers’ Children, February 2008
ACRI condemns Expulsion of African of Refugees, August 2007
“Israel Returns Illegal African Migrants to Egypt”,The New York Times, August 20, 2007
Photo by: Leah Pavie
