Subscribe to Print Edition | Tue., April 22, 2008 Nisan 17, 5768 | | Israel Time: 14:27 (EST+7) web haaretz.com   Back to Homepage Rosner's Domain Diplomacy Defense Jewish World Opinion National Print Edition Advertising Books Arts & Leisure Business Real Estate Easy Start Travel Week's End Anglo File

African refugees in Tel Aviv in February. (Nir Kafri) Last update - 22:18 23/03/2008 PM: Israel to send back refugees who infiltrate from Sinai By Barak Ravid, Haaretz Correspondent, and The Associated Press Tags: Israel, African refugees  Israel's security forces will be tasked with sending African refugees who infiltrate into the country back to Egypt, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told senior cabinet ministers at the conclusion of a follow-up consultation on the issue held in Jerusalem on Sunday. The Israel Defense Forces and the Israel Police instituted the policy of arresting and returning refugees to Sinai in August 2007. Olmert convened the meeting with Defense Minister Ehud Barak, Public Security Minister Avi Dichter, and senior officials from the IDF, the Foreign Ministry, and the Population Registry. Advertisement Defense officials noted that Egypt's refusal to accept the refugees complicates Israel's efforts to send the infiltrators back across the border. Olmert summoned legal officials to inquire whether or not the state is within its rights to immediately expel the refugees and if the matter requires a change in legislation. "The security forces still are not doing enough to prevent the entrance of infiltrators, and the Foreign Ministry has not examined all the options with African states," Olmert said. "The situation is not ideal. This is a tsunami that can grow and we need to take every measure in order to stop it." "Israel holds to a strict line vis-a-vis the Palestinians on all matters related to the entry of people and the right of return, and here in a span of a few months 10,000 people have entered the country and nobody is doing anything about it," Olmert said. The prime minister instructed Barak to take steps to prevent the infiltrations, even if the matter requires the use of force. "If need be, you could consult with legal officials over how this can be done," Olmert told the defense minister. Dichter proposed enlarging the holding facilities at the Ketziot prison, which currently has a capacity of just 1,000 inmates. "We have to find other countries and send [the refugees] there," Dichter said, adding that a fence which runs along the Israel-Egypt border would put a stop to the infiltrations and would also aid in the efforts to halt drug and weapons smuggling as well as human trafficking. Defense officials said that the average number of refugees who snuck across the border into Israel stood at 800 per week as of earlier this month. Last week, the number dropped to 80 infiltrators. The decrease can be attributed to the heightened vigilance displayed by Egyptian security forces as well as the IDF and the Border Police on the Israeli side, defense officials said. Earlier this month, Olmert rebuked defense officials for not doing enough to seal the border and block the flow of refugees across the border. Egypt arrests 13 African refugees Meanwhile, Egyptian police arrested 13 Africans on Sunday as they tried to cross into Israel to look for work or political asylum there, a police official said. The arrested Africans included men, women and children from Eritrea, Ivory Coast, Ghana and Sudan, said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity as he was not allowed to talk to the media. The traffickers had charged each African from the group US$500 for shelter and passage from Cairo, the Egyptian capital where the group was first assembled, and across Egypt's Sinai Peninsula to the Israeli border, the official said. From there, they were to be smuggled into Israel just a few kilometers (miles) south of the Rafah border crossing point. The arrest was the latest in near-daily attempts by illegal migrants to make it to Israel from Egypt. Among the three children and four women in the group, one was a Sudanese Christian woman who was arrested with her two children. She told police that she had come from the wartorn Darfur region and was seeking asylum in Israel. Imad Kharboush, head of the northern Sinai emergency unit said all the Africans were examined at the Rafah hospital to make sure that they didn't carry any serious disease. Hundreds of African refugees hope to make it to Israel. Dozens have been detained over the past year and at least six have been killed this year by Egyptian border guards. Africans began trickling into Israel in 2005, after Egyptian authorities quashed a demonstration by a group of Sudanese refugees. In recent months, the number has surged as word spread of job opportunities in Israel. More than 7,000 African migrants have entered the Jewish state illegally in just over a year, including at least 2,000 since January, according to U.N. officials in Israel. Israel has asked Egypt to do more to stem the tide of trafficking and weapons flow across Egypt's volatile boundaries in the Sinai - both the border with Israel and the adjoining boundary separating Egypt and the coastal Gaza Strip, controlled by the Palestinian Hamas. Related articles: Some 2,400 African refugees have entered Israel this year Tel Aviv setting up tent city for African refugees African refugee en route to Israel shot dead by Egyptian border police Bookmark to del.icio.us   Undressed to impress Yeshiva student strips in a supermarket to protest sale of chametz during Passover. Ante up Hamas offers truce in return for a Palestinian state along Israel's pre-1967 borders.   1.   Was this not what 16:32  |  Mark Lincoln 23/03/08   2.   My previous post needs to be blanced by this one 16:43  |  Mark Lincoln 23/03/08   3.   Mark, your second answer is more reasonable 18:05  |  Gary 23/03/08   4.   To 1 Mark - They are illegal immigrants 18:26  |  Moti 23/03/08   5.   Gary and Mark # 2 and #3 _ Your Are Obvioulsy Correct 18:40  |  Eli 23/03/08   6.   African refugees 19:09  |  Michael Garkawe 23/03/08   7.   They really don`t want to go to Muslim countries.. 21:04  |  Judith 23/03/08   8.   M.LINCOLN Ever wondered why this refugee situation exists 22:02  |  PETER SM 23/03/08   9.   Gary----you miss a few points my friend 22:09  |  Brian Freund 23/03/08   10.   Lefties want to deluge Israel with Sudanese as prelude to pal 22:15  |  Absolute Sweden 23/03/08   11.   Moti - I have not taken sides 22:17  |  Mark Lincoln 23/03/08   12.   PHOTO SHOWS Black refugees treated at a General Israeli Hospital 22:19  |  PETER SM 23/03/08   13.   Peter Sado-Masochism 22:21  |  Mark Lincoln 23/03/08   14.   refugees 22:26  |  Esther Gynther 23/03/08   15.   Bleeding Hears, and Coronets 22:28  |  Mark Lincoln 23/03/08   16.   This whole thing reminds me most of 22:37  |  Mark Lincoln 23/03/08   17.   Actually Mark # 11 You Have Made A Very Unfair Comment 22:42  |  Eli 23/03/08   18.   TREAT THEM WELL! THEN SEND THEM HOME!!! 23:07  |  Ajay Kaur 23/03/08   19.   Incredible Mark Lincoln Post # 13 _ Are You Disavowing 23:08  |  Eli 23/03/08   20.   Where to find housing ? 23:27  |  Avrum 23/03/08   21.   Refuse All Refugees! 23:32  |  Rivka 23/03/08   22.   Mark Lincoln # 15 _ More Crock from You 23:53  |  Eli 23/03/08   23.   Eli - and the other foot is 00:13  |  Mark Lincoln 24/03/08   24.   Nations do what they have to do 00:24  |  Mark Lincoln 24/03/08   25.   What is the world to do? 01:24  |  Mark Lincoln 24/03/08   26.   1- Mark Lincoln 01:31  |  Ibn Musa 24/03/08   27.   Ibn Musa - already suggested by myself 02:20  |  Mark Lincoln 24/03/08   28.   My position on Darfur has been consistent 02:25  |  Mark Lincoln 24/03/08   29.   No Sweat Mark - I Repeat, This Story Was About Africans In 03:59  |  Eli 24/03/08   30.   Good post Ajay... 04:58  |  jb 24/03/08   31.   You can try to justify it till the cows come home,yet it is 05:01  |  YSL 24/03/08   32.   Actually Mark Lincoln, Ibn Musa Is Nothing More 05:02  |  Eli 24/03/08   33.   27 Lincoln - since you usurp Lincoln`s name 05:28  |  Ibn Musa 24/03/08   34.   I understand the meaning of Ibn 05:42  |  Mark Lincoln 24/03/08   35.   Mark _ I Was Simply Explaining The Name. I Can Not Give An 07:33  |  Eli 24/03/08   36.   #34 Lincoln 14:21  |  Ibn Musa 24/03/08   37.   To everyone 14:48  |  Jenn 25/03/08   38.   cont 14:55  |  Jenn 25/03/08   39.   to jb - Good post Ajay 13:14  |  Danielle 22/04/08

Read & React Bradley Burston: A word for our worst enemy, Hamas Responses: 7 Study: Muslim anti-Semitism is strategic danger for Israel Responses: 16 Israel to compensate family of British filmmaker killed by IDF Responses: 71 Clinton: If Tehran nukes Israel, U.S. could 'obliterate' Iran Responses: 34 Yeshiva student undresses in store to protest chametz sale Responses: 47 Rosner's Domain Fight Hamas, not AIPAC (WTR) The Passover test and The Passion of Passover Just say no to Carter Poll: What is Carter doing in the Middle East? Clinton: Massive retaliation if Israel attacked (WTR) More Headlines 14:22 Study: Muslim anti-Semitism is strategic danger for Israel 12:52 Report: Egypt and Hamas draft deal for Hamas-Israel cease-fire 09:03 UNIFIL finds Hezbollah arms, gunmen scatter peacekeepers 11:32 Clinton: If Tehran nukes Israel, U.S. could 'totally obliterate' Iran 12:36 Jordan's King to ask Bush to defer or cancel trip to Israel 13:39 Al-Qaida No. 2 slams Hamas for considering peace with Israel 13:42 Barbara Streisand pulls out of Israel 60th anniversary jubilee 10:45 Small gain in Pennsylvania could mean big win for Barack Obama 12:36 6 wounded, 1 moderately, as boulder falls on Givat Olga beach 10:35 ANALYSIS: U.S. to ask N. Korea: Where's the missing plutonium? 07:15 Israel to compensate family of British filmmaker killed by IDF 07:06 Battling over hearts and minds with Hasidic songs and live performances Previous Editions Select Day 21 apr 20 apr 18 apr 17 apr 16 apr 15 apr 14 apr 13 apr 11 apr 10 apr 09 apr 08 apr

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