CAIRO: In honor of World Refugee Day on Wednesday June 20, Israel addressed the increasingly sensitive issue of African refugees flowing into the country from Egypt. Wednesday alone saw the detainment of 63 African asylum-seekers who illegally entered Israel, following a trend that has risen sharply in the past few months with 850 refugees crossing the border in the last six weeks alone, according to Haaretz newspaper. About half the recent refugees are from Sudan. Haaretz quotes Sharon Harel, a representative of the Israeli branch of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) as saying that Israel should not send Sudanese refugees back to Egypt, during a joint session of the Knesset Committee on Foreign Workers and the Knesset Committee on the Rights of the Child. Harel claimed deportation would be dangerous for Sudanese refugees because Egypt would likely send them back to their home country, with which Israel does not have diplomatic relations. The head of the Knesset lobby for Darfur refugees Avishay Braverman responded by saying that Israel would have no choice but to deport them. Instead, Braverman suggested that Israel, the US, and Europe should pressure Egypt to absorb the refugees instead of deporting them. "Egypt can't absorb more refugees because it does not absorb any refugees, says Michael Kagan, AUC professor of Refugee Studies. Kagan explains that Egypt only offers basic protection from deportation in coordination with the UNHCR, and minimum access to health and education, but does not offer asylum or permanent status, and does not allow refugees to work. Kagan says many leave Egypt to go to Israel because "they have no future in Egypt. They are very much in limbo. Their desperation leads them to flee but while there is a perception that conditions are better in Israel, and while some refugees are allowed to work, they are considered "enemy nationals in Israel, some even face indefinite detention, he added. While it is commonly estimated that Egypt currently hosts up to 2 million African refugees, Kagan says the number of all non-Palestinian refugees registered with the UNHCR is about 37,000. He says the 2 million figure likely includes many Africans who are not actually refugees. Regarding their possible deportation back to Sudan, Kagan referred to one incident in 2004 where 11 refugees were returned but were not deported only through outside intervention. According to Haaretz, Israeli officials have said that Egypt is doing nothing to stem the flow of illegal African movement into Israel, adding that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni have not been able to reach an agreement with the Egyptian government regarding the issue. The issue may soon reach a solution in Israel, as 40 ministers have backed a demand that Olmert participate in a special debate on "the government's failure to resolve the problem of the Darfur region refugees. The Israeli embassy was unavailable for comment at time of press.
