Israeli soldier: “The officer wanted it done as fast as possible”
September 3rd, 2008Ben Lynfield
Jerusalem – Some Israeli soldiers have strong misgivings about their unpleasant new task returning African refugees to Egypt, where they are at high risk of being deported back to Sudan, Eritrea or the other regimes they fled.
In Sudan, the refugees face possible protracted imprisonment or execution and in Eritrea incommunicado detention for an unknown period in a military prison with a high likelihood of being tortured. Another possibility is that they will disappear and be forgotten by the world as happened to 48 refugees returned by Israel to Egypt on Aug. 19, 2007 who remain unaccounted for. Israel has returned more than ninety refugees to Egypt in recent weeks and many further expulsions are expected. Israeli refugee rights lawyers say the practice violates Israel’s obligations under the International Convention on Refugee Rights, which bans deporting refugees to places where their lives and liberty are at risk The government insists those entering Israel from Egypt are all economic migrants, although it does not carry out hearings to determine whether this is the case.
One soldier offered the following account of the Israel Defense Force’s return of refugees to Egypt on Sat. Aug 23, 2008. “The army cameras first saw the people on Friday night. On Saturday morning they came, we went towards them. The Egyptian soldiers started shooting at them. One refugee who was already on our side got a bullet in his leg.”
“The refugees don’t know where the border is. We gathered them, seventeen of them. I thought it would be the regular procedure [giving them water and a medical check-BL]. Then the main officers arrived. They told us to cover their eyes and to handcuff them. That had never been done before. We put everyone on an army bus that went to the border. The officers talked to the Egyptian officers, they moved the fence and handed them over. That was it. We gave them over to the Egyptians just twenty minutes after they had been shot at by the Egyptian army.”
“The next day there were another seven refugees from the same group. They were waiting for us. We just gave them back to the Egyptians without asking them any questions, without asking are they in danger. The only question we had was: are there more of them. This was also done within minutes. The officer wanted it done as fast as possible.”
“ It was wrong-morally it’s wrong. This country was founded by refugees from all over the world. When you see people who have just been shot at and are begging for your help, your basic instinct is to help. You don’t know if you are sentencing them to hell or to death by giving them back. They don’t want to be there and it doesn’t feel right to give them back. I’m definitely questioning my willingness to do these things. It’s a battle inside of me.”
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egypt it willget it back i swear i am tolking in the be half of eritrean we do not have the economic proplem bat we have regim problem what thay did last time they send back nily 1000 eritrean back that is no rhight to do but the will pay back
It is really hysteric to listen such cruel thing to do against your moral and ethical obligation. Some one run away from death raw and thought reached a safe haven, but suddenly giving back to death is cruel thing to do. As the TORAH (Mishpatim) tells as you were refuges what to do with the refugges!!! What you are doing is against your moral and spritual obligation!!!!!!!
It is very sad to see the Israel government actually deporting refugee to a place where their life can be in jeopardy. What is wrong with the Jewish people how soon they forget what they went through in the rest part of the world.
For the Egyptians I don’t expect any better because they are animals. They don’t have brain to think and to do the right thing. I am saying this because of what they did to Eritreans. They shoot women and children in the border; they deport them back to Eritrean government who is well known for his brutality.
As for the refugees especially those from Eritrea, the whole world knows the existing political challenges. It is actually a night mare to be administered and treated like nothing in your own country and that is the worst brutal government the world has ever seen. How do the Egiptian officials send the Eritreans back to the killer, isn’t another brutality by the Egyptian authorities. The same thing is done now by the Israel government.
I don’t think the Egyptian authority will have the hurt and the brain to do the right thing but for the Israel government please we are begging you not to deport Eritreans back to Egypt or to Eritrea because the consequence will be unbearable.
Berhane
Italy deports 42 Egyptian illegal migrants(2008-09-04 00:00:00])
Cairo ( Egypt )Italy has deported 42 Egyptian migrants to Cairo Wednesday on board of a private flight, sources confirmed here.
All 42 had been under custody in an Italian camp since they were arrested after sailing from Zowara Port in Libya to Italy.
Security sources at Cairo airport said Wednesday that a gang had received 2,000 dollars from each of them to help them illegally enter Italy.
Thirty policemen accompanied the deportees.
Last month, italy deported 84 Egyptians.
75 Egyptian illegal immigrants rescued off coast of Greece (2008-09-03 03:52:48])
APA-Cairo (Egypt) Seventy-five illegal Egyptian immigrants were rescued from a boat which wrecked off the coast of Greece, Egyptian Foreign Ministry announced on Tuesday.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs department of information director Refaat Alansary said the Egyptian embassy in Athens received a telephone call from a passenger boat about the boat and contacted Greek authorities who sent a search and rescue team and rescued all the passengers.
Karma is coming very Fast
You Isreli look your back history that you flee your country for the fear of death.And now you able to survive as a nation.Can you now imagine that what are you doing to Eritrean.Not fair and not humane.
Listen Israelis,
Why don’t you have some common sense and stop doing what you are doing? No one is able to teach you back what you went through. If you are denying people asylum because they are Africans, shame on you. May be they will be the last people who will be willing to help you when the world raises against you one day.
Egyptian authorities, you know that you are a nightmare of the past as people as well as regime. No one in the world likes you for your brutality and lack of a bit of little sympathy even for each other, let alone to ‘AGANIBS’ (black ones!). It won’t be long when you will have the fate of other similar people like you and when you will scatter to all over the place. That’s where you are heading, and then you would know how it would feel to be a refugee in need of protection.
Egypt, Shame on you! Shame on you! you are making millions of enemies than you would think Israelites would make in their entire stories. ISraelites made enmies for their beliefs and their identity. Egyptians always make enemies because of their unimaginable greed for worldly possessions. The authorities deported eritreans and other African refugees whenever the respective refugees countries paid some money to the egyptian authorities. Shame on you! Shame on you! For a change in your story do things for your faith and conscience instead of for money and any other benefit.