African refugees in Israeli prison camp

This video from Israel says about itself:

Protest against the internment of refugees, Saharonim prison, Negev Desert, Israel

Eritrean refugees and Israeli activists protesting on August 31, 2012, against the imprisonment without trial of asylum seekers and refugees in a new, massive prison under construction in the Negev desert.

From daily The Morning Star in Britain:

Israel MPs hit out at desert prisons

Monday 24 June 2013

Opposition politicians laid into the Israeli government today over the atrocious conditions in a camp for unwanted African migrants.

Hundreds are languishing in the Sahronim detention centre in southern Israel, where families may only meet once a week and women and children sleep in a prison-like compound.

“It’s not a camp. It’s a prison,” said Meretz party MP Michal Rozin.

“You have guards. You are not free do what you want. These people are not criminals. Their only crime is asking for a better life.”

A parliamentary delegation recently visited the facility which is central to Israel’s efforts to stem the flow of people who have crossed the porous desert border with Egypt in recent years.

Prison authorities allow few visitors and reporters are banned.

Many of the 1,400 men live in tents holding about 10 people each.

Fences separate them from the 200 women and 11 children, housed in a low-slung building around a courtyard.

Families are allowed to meet only on Thursdays for a few hours.

Just 136 people have left Sahronim since last year, said Sigal Rozen of the Hotline for Migrant Workers.

African migrants designated as refugees may be released, but many say Israel has dragged its feet on thousands of refugee applications it has received.

It has ruled on just 17 cases, rejecting them all.

While the majority of Israel’s radical left focuses on the Prawer Plan or ending the occupation, it tends to neglect the hardships of the LGBT community: here.

Related articles

• Asylum Seekers Struggle to Survive Under Israeli Restrictions (ipsnews.net)
• Israel Begins to Build Military Oasis in the Negev Desert (algemeiner.com)