Reports: Sudanese refugees march to Beersheba
Dozens of refugees march in bitter cold weather in Negev after seeking to enter Ketziot Prison, eyewitnesses say. 'This is not the first time,' says aid organization representative. Israel Prison Service: We are unauthorized to deal with them
About 30 Sudanese refugees marched Sunday evening in the bitter cold weather from the Ketziot Prison in the Negev to the city of Beersheba. The group of refugees sought to enter the prison, but was turned down, apparently because they did not possess the required documents from the army.
"I was driving towards Ketziot when I spotted a convoy of refugees walking at the opposite direction," an eyewitness told Ynet. "I continued driving and saw a larger group of about 20 refugees near the Ketziot Prison, most of them men. They were well-dressed and did not seem as if they had just crossed the border.
In the absence of a solution, the refugees began walking on the road leading to Beersheba.
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"When I asked them where they were headed, they said Beersheba. I have no idea how they plan to walk this distance in the bitter cold weather we're experiencing here."
Elisheva Milkovsky of the Aid to Refugees organizations called two activists living in the Ramat Hanegev regional council to search for the refugees.
"This is not the first time this happens," she told Ynet. "A similar incident took place in the summer. Sometimes the army leaves them at the junction near Ketziot and they are not always allowed to enter."
Milkovsky said that the Ketziot Prison has been full recently and has refused to take in any other refugees.
"As opposed to the summer, now it's very cold at night and they won't be able to sleep outside and wait to be let in," she added. "We are extremely concerned, and have therefore sent out activists to look for them."
Refugees cross border from Egypt
Yaron Zamir, a spokesman for the Israel Prison Service, rejected the possibility that Sudanese refugees were released from jail on Sunday.
"When there is a release, it is carried out in an organized manner and the Sudanese are transferred to the organizations which take them in."
Sources in the IPS added that this was not the first time Sudanese refugees arrived at the prison on their own, and that in any such case their arrival was reported to the army.
"The IPS is the body which holds prisoners and detainees, but only after they are handed over by they body which arrests them – such as the police, the IDF or the Border Guard," an IPS source said, adding that "since we are unauthorized to arrest the refugees and take them into custody inside the prison, their arrival was reported to the army."
Many Sudanese refugees cross the Egyptian border toward Israel on a daily basis. Last summer, Israel and Egypt agreed on the return to Egypt of 2,000 Sudanese refugees who did not come from Darfur. Some 500 refugees were absorbed in Israel. The Ketziot base for the African infiltrators was enlarged and now has room for about 1,000 people.
Raanan Ben-Zur contributed to this report
Refugees (archives)
Photo: Sharon Braverman
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