Friday, February 20, 2015

Israel's Africans

Israel was one of the first nations to ratify the 1951 UN Refugee Convention. Today, the fate of its non-Jewish refugees, including 50,000 African asylum-seekers remains unclear. Some 2,300 refugees from Africa are currently living at the Holot camp in the Israeli Negev-desert. This year has been rainy and cold, and the barracks have no heating. An Israeli human rights organization has been trying to raise awareness about the plight of Africans stuck in the camp. But the refugees, many from Darfur and Eritrea, have little hope of getting accepted as refugees in Israel. The asylum-seekers have protested against Israel's treatment, hoping to get rights based on the United Nation Convention on Refugees. But chances seem slim they will be granted refugee status in Israel and be allowed to start a new life.

Listen to this report by Deutsche Welle

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