Israeli MPs back help for Sudan refugees

August 3, 2007 (JERUSALEM) — Israeli politicians of all persuasions have signed a petition urging the government not to expel Sudanese who have entered the country illegally from Egypt, a parliamentary source said on Friday.

“The refugees have sought protection and sanctuary in Israel. The history of the Jewish people and universal moral values mean we have offer it,” wrote 63 of parliament’s 120 deputies.

Signatories of the petition, which does not have the force of law, include the head of the right-wing opposition party Likud, Benjamin Netanyahu, former defence minister and Labour leader Amir Peretz and a communist.

The petition proposes that the illegal immigrants be allowed to stay in Israel until third countries are found to take them.

African refugees trying to enter Israel illegally are caught nearly every day, and the Jewish state has said that those detained will be sent back to Egypt.

On July 22, a Sudanese was shot dead by Egyptian police as he tried to cross the frontier along with a group of 26 other Africans.

According to United Nations figures, there are currently 1,200 refugees from Sudan in Israel, among them 300 from the war-torn Darfur region.

(AFP)