MIDDLE EAST: Israel makes last minute preparations ahead of first deportation flight of South Sudanese migrants

Record ID: 348539

  • Title: MIDDLE EAST: Israel makes last minute preparations ahead of first deportation flight of South Sudanese migrants
  • Date: 18th June 2012
  • Summary: (SOUNDBITE) (English) EYAL FEDER, MANAGER OF THE GARDEN LIBRARY SAYING: "I think regardless of the question whether the deportation is just or unjust, I think that the way in which it was carried out was inhumane at parts, was brutal, and I believe that it should have been done in more proper way, especially for this community which is a very very respectful community who
  • Embargoed: 3rd July 2012 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Jerusalem, Israel
  • City:
  • Country: Israel
  • Topics: International Relations,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVAE6EN4PPJVTKKP6JLBALTA0F3K
  • Story Text: Israeli authorities on Sunday (June 17) made last minute preparations ahead of the departure of a first flight carrying 120 deported South Sudanese migrants back to their country.
    The first deportation flight is expected to leave Israel on 12 PM local (2100gmt) on Sunday for Juba, the capital of South Sudan, as part of what Israel calls Operation Returning Home.
    "Tonight the first flight of illegal infiltrators will leave, back to South Sudan. Next week another flight will depart. The government begins today with the returning of illegal work infiltrators back to their lands or origin. We will do it in an orderly manner, while protecting their honour. We are dealing with the problem of infiltrators by the curbing of entrance through construction of the fence, the speeding up of deportation to lands of origin or third party states, and making immigration unattractive," Israeli Prime Minsiter Benjamin Netanyahu told his cabinet's weekly meeting in Jerusalem.
    The 120 migrants were told to arrive at a pick-up point at Tel Aviv's central bus station, from where they will be transported in buses to the Ben Gurion airport.
    Israeli opinion is divided over plans to eventually deport some 60,000 African migrants deemed a social irritant and a threat to the Jewish character of the state. The South Sudanese, whose country was established in 2011 after they fled civil war in Sudan five or six years ago, will be the first to be repatriated, under an agreement between South Sudan and Israel. They number only some 1,500.
    It is legally questionable whether Israel can actually remove all of the migrants and some critics have said the government's tough rhetoric is far removed from reality. Many of the migrants have been working in hotels and restaurants, while others have been holding down manual jobs or working as contracted day labour. All of them were technically working illegally.
    "We stopped the unacceptable routine of transferring infiltrators from the border to Tel Aviv or any other place in the country. Since last week, any infiltrator that crosses the border is immediately detained, and this is according to the new bill we have legislated allowing to hold infiltrators in detention for years. Also, we are constructing holding facilities capable of holding tens of thousands of infiltrators until they are deported," Netanyahu added in the meeting.
    For the past week Israel's immigration authorities have been carrying arrests of some South Sudanese ahead of deportation. Othres were given a chance to sign papers in which they agree to be "willingly deported". Those who leave in this method will receive a grant of 1,000 euros. Those who do not are interned until they can be forcibly repatriated.
    Israel, a country of 7.8 million, has almost completed a high fence along the border to deter more would-be migrants who are brought to the frontier by Bedouin people-smugglers.
    Newspaper reports said Netanyahu had asked officials to examine whether a fence should now also be built along the border with southern Jordan, in the event that migrants try to cross the narrow Gulf of Aqaba and enter Israel from the Arab kingdom.
    On Saturday (June 16) in Tel Aviv, an annual event by the Garden Library for Refugees and Nigrant workers project was turned into a farewell ceremony for those deported.
    "I think regardless of the question whether the deportation is just or unjust, I think that the way in which it was carried out was inhumane at parts, was brutal, and I believe that it should have been done in more proper way, especially for this community which is a very very respectful community who has very good relations with Israel and has been here for a long long time," said Eyal Feder, manager of the project. The Garden Library for Refugees and Migrant Workers project is a social-artistic initiative founded in 2009, allowing non Israelis to borrow books in their native tongues. Among the 3,500 book selection in the open structure, there are books in Mandarin Chinese, Amharic, Thai, Tagalog, Arabic, French, Spanish, Nepalese, Bengali, Hindi, Turkish, Romanian, Sinhala, Tigrinya, and English. The library is located in a park in central Tel Aviv, where many migrants live, and is operated by volunteers.
    Tens attended the farewell event, many of whom migrants who are staying in Israel for the time being and asylum seekers.
    "I am feeling also miserable and so unhappy, because my friends and colleagues and you know, when I grow up together and play together, really you know, its so difficult for me , you know, to say for them bye. I don't know also, maybe you know other people also, about me maybe also, to be back. I don't know what, just wait the decision of the government here," said Walideen Sinran from Darfur.
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