Interior minister says Israel encouraging Sudanese refugees
July 9, 2007 (KHARTOUM) — Sudanese interior minister has accused Israeli authorities of encouraging the Sudanese refugees to come in their country. He further said that Tel Aviv is marketing this issue through the media to defame Sudan.
Interior Minister Zubair Bashir Taha estimated the number of the Sudanese who infiltrated into Israel via Egypt at some 3,000 persons. He said that the infiltrators come from South Sudan (40%), the Darfur region (35%), and Nuba Mountains (25%).
The minister further added that his ministry started to study this issue in order to identify these refugees, their occupation, and cause for their stay in Egypt for long time before crossing to Israel. He also indicated that Egypt is cooperating with Sudan on the study.
Egyptian authorities have long accused Sinai inhabitants of smuggling weapons, drugs and people across the border into Israel and the Gaza Strip.
Taha, who pledged to prosecute the refugees when they returned, described this phenomenon as very confusing to his ministry, but he justified their refuge in Israel by saying that they consider it a crossing point to Europe and the United States.
While an unidentified Sudanese refugee in Israel expressed satisfaction from his presence there. He told Ajazeera Satellite TV “We were surprised when we came here. We met good people, who welcomed us and gave us food. We feel that we are extremely happy. We hope that the Israeli government would find a solution for us and our children. We came here to look for a better place.”
Several parties warned against the spread of this phenomenon in view of the fact that Israel seeks to attract the Sudanese for promotional and other suspicious purposes that may harm the Sudanese national security.
Sadiq al-Mahdi, leader of the Sudanese Umma Party, was earlier cited as warning against Israel’s political exploitation of the Sudanese refugees, its great interest in the events in Darfur, and its portrayal of what it is happening there as an aggression carried out by Arab elements against African elements.
Many Sudanese find life difficult in Egypt, a country that struggles to provide jobs and social services for a growing refugee population. Egyptian riot police violently cleared a refugee encampment in central Cairo in 2005, killing nearly 30 people.
(ST)