Israel to Begin Immediate Deportation of African Refugees – Even without Their Consent

Asylum seekers from Sudan and Eritrea will face either deportation to third countries or unlimited imprisonment in Israel under a new Interior Ministry policy set to be implemented in the coming days. According to a statement released by the ministry’s Population, Immigration and Border Authority on Tuesday, April 1, henceforth Israel will provide asylum seekers with 30-day notification, after which anyone refusing to leave will face indefinite detention.

African asylum seekers take part in a protest outside the Holot detention center, in Israel's southern Negev desert, February 17, 2014. The protesters called to close the prison and to recognize the refugee rights of the African asylum seekers living in Israel.

African asylum seekers take part in a protest outside the Holot detention center, in Israel’s southern Negev desert, February 17, 2014. The protesters called to close the prison and to recognize the refugee rights of the African asylum seekers living in Israel. (Photo: Activestills)

The two “third countries” to which asylum seekers will be deported are said to be Rwanda and Uganda, but Israel has still not officially divulged this information. Until now, Israel has exerted pressure on asylum seekers to leave by holding them in the Holot detention facility in the Negev. Here, the detainees are offered cash to leave Israel, either by going back to their home country or by being sent to a third country. However, this procedure always required the written consent of the detainees. The new policy is to be entirely coercive: either they leave or face indefinite imprisonment. “Determining that someone who does not leave ‘voluntarily’ will be incarcerated for an indefinite amount of time is a blatant violation of the principles of international law,” said MK Dov Khenin (Hadash – Joint List), adding that there was no guarantee they would have any rights once they reach the third country.

Six human rights organizations, among them the Hotline for Refugees and Migrants, Amnesty International, and the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, have attacked the change in policy as illegal and dangerous, while admitting at the same time that it was expected. “The initiative of the Ministry of the Interior exposes what we’ve known all along – there is no such thing as ‘voluntary departure.’ The decision of the Minister of the Interior and the Attorney General eliminates the subterfuge the state previously employed and makes it clear that Israel will work to deport asylum seekers in any way possible, including illegal ones,” the organizations said in a joint statement they released.

According to the United Nations Refugee Convention, asylum seekers cannot be sent to any country unless there is an agreement with that country which ensures the safeguarding of their rights and welfare, noted Oded Feller, an immigration lawyer with the Association of Civil Rights in Israel. “The government of Israel has refused to disclose any agreements with the governments of Uganda and Rwanda, and it is doubtful if any such agreements exist in writing. Those countries deny that there are any agreements at all,” added Feller.

There are currently more than 40,000 Eritrean and Sudanese nationals in Israel, of which around 2,000 are being held in the Holot detention facility. Fewer than 10 have been granted refugee status, meaning that Israel’s refugee recognition rate is under one percent. In contrast, Sudanese and Eritrean asylum seekers worldwide are granted refugee status at rates of 60, 70, and even 80 percent.

Related:

CPI posts related to the Holot detention camp