Israeli government jails Darfur genocide survivors

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This video is called Defend African Refugees in Israel.

From daily Haaretz in Israel:

Eli Yishai orders mass roundup of Sudanese migrants, including Darfur genocide survivors

Campaign, set to begin October 15, was approved by Prime Minister’s Office; interior minister also plans to arrest and deport Eritrean migrants.

By Talila Nesher and Jonathan Lis

Aug.29, 2012 | 10:17 PM

Interior Minister Eli Yishai on Wednesday instructed immigration police to begin rounding up and detaining Sudanese migrants on October 15, in what migrants’ aid groups see as a racist move and a violation of the UN Refugee Convention, to which Israel is a signatory.

Because Sudan is classified by Israel as an enemy state, they say, it is forbidden to repatriate Sudanese nationals who are seeking asylum.

Yishai, who made the announcement after obtaining the approval of the Prime Minister’s Office, said migrants who leave the country voluntarily before October 15 will receive assistance from his office, while those who don’t will be imprisoned and deported.

Hotline for Migrant Workers, an organization that assists migrants, said Wednesday that “imprisoning refugees from north Sudan and Darfur, who are genocide survivors, is a blatant violation of the UN Refugee Convention.”

Attorney Yonatan Berman of the Clinic for Migrants’ Rights at the Academic Center for Law and Business said, “Yishai’s complete indifference to human life is astonishing,” adding that Israel’s threat to deport migrants unless they leave the country violates the refugee convention.

“Since it is not possible to deport them, it is illegal to lock up thousands of asylum-seekers for no reason,” Berman said. “We are convinced the Foreign and Justice Ministries have not agreed to the interior minister’s statement, whose main purpose is to create the illusion that he’s doing something,” he added.

“Only a man who has lost all human image can impose the wicked choice on asylum-seekers and their children − to risk their life in returning [to their country] or be imprisoned for years,” said attorney Oded Feller of the Association for Civil Rights in Israel.

An attack by a gang of Jewish youths on several Palestinian Israelis that left one 17-year-old Palestinian close to death has shocked Israel: here.

Seeking asylum in Israel: The lesbian presented no evidence, you can sleep soundly: here.

Lone children seeking asylum in Britain are confronted with a “culture of disbelief and suspicion” which leaves them frightened and confused, a charity warned on Friday: here.

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