On Monday Israeli police arrested approximately two hundred illegal immigrants, many of them refugees from the Sudan. We have all heard of the ongoing violence in the Sudan and surrounding areas; here is a recap. Ethnic groups, divided along Arab-African lines, compete for ever-scarcer resources and political enfranchisement. The current conflict began in 2003, when the Justice Equality Movement and the Sudanese Liberation Army, both community-based groups in the Darfur region, accused the government of abrogating their rights in favor of ethnic Arabs. The government responded with aerial bombings and strategic and monetary support of the Janjawid militia, a group said t be responsible for countless human rights violations and various atrocities. Human rights activist groups term the Darfur conflict a genocide, and the international community, while condemning these atrocities in lip service, has as yet taken no action to help the besieged Darfuris. Japan and China both have significant economic interest in the area, but as the conflict has not inhibited their ability to purchase oil and other petroleum-based products, they have apparently not seen any urgency in getting involved. The US and Europe do not have any economic involvement, and again see no percentage in getting drawn in.
In past months tens of thousands of refugees have made the dangerous crossing from the Sudan through Egypt into Israel, seeking safe haven. Egypt has been known on multiple occasions to shoot on sight when dealing with refugees, as well as deporting them back to their home countries. Although Israel has granted work permits and legal status to hundreds of these refugees, they are fearful that they can no longer support the influx with an infrastructure not built to sustain that many. In 2007 they deported thirty-five Sudanese refugees to Egypt, who promptly deported them back to Sudan. As Israel is seen as an enemy country by the Sudanese government, these men, once returned, were imprisoned, and five of them were executed. The UN has a mandate advocating for the rights of refugees, originally prompted by pre-Israel Jews fleeing Nazi violence being turned away from refuge in most countries. Now the Israelis find themselves on the other side of the fence, and human rights activist groups are on alert as they struggle to figure out what is the right thing to do. Deporting them back to their home nations is not a humanitarian option, as many will face the violence they were fleeing in the first place, exacerbated by their attempted escape. However, Prime Minister Olmert has taken this option anyway in the past, and seems to be set to do so once again. One might ask how the millenial refugees, the Jews, would not want to help. But it is also a fact of life that their resources have been stretched to the limit by the influx of refugees. To my mind, the international community, specifically the strong world powers who continuously talk about helping people who cannot help themselves but only “help” when they have some economic interest, bears the blame both for the ongoing conflict, and at least a part for the subsequent humanitarian crisis which Israel has handled so badly.
1 comment:
This is very disturbing to know that all these people came over here and we have no clue what their intentions were. The government needs to tighten up things around here but at least they caught them.
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