The forgotten refugees

After fleeing the horrors of war, they fled to Egypt asking for asylum but found none there. Risking their lives, they fled again, crossing the borders illegally into Israel, in search of security and refuge. Many have settled in Arad, a small city near the Dead Sea. But life for the refugees isn’t easy. This is the story of Sudanese refugees in Israel. Recently, more than 100 of them were repatriated by the government of Israel. The government claims they went back home voluntarily while some humanitarian organizations have disputed that fact. The Sudanese in Israel have been coming to Israel since 2007, by crossing the border illegally from Egypt. Some were killed by Egyptian soldiers while attempting to cross, and some were badly injured. According to Rebekah Frei, an Israeli Christian Jew and a representative of the Association of Sudanese Refugees in Israel, most of the adults work as menial labourers in the hotels by the dead sea, for minimum wages. “They work 10-12 hours per day, and some don’t receive even the basic rights such as medical allowance, sick leave, severance pay.” Rebekkah’s husband, Joseph, a Southern Sudanese, was among those who were recently repatriated back to Sudan just before the referendum vote. Joseph chose to go back because he wanted to vote, and because he wanted to partake in the building of the new country. “We just had a baby the day before he left. It is a hard subject to talk about, as it was in fact done because of the hardship and lack of hope here in Israel for the refugees” says Rebekkah. Rebekkah says that her organization is constantly working to change this by representing the refugees in their disputes with their employers. “We have already established good relationships with many of the employers and have changed the reality for many refugees.” She says that because of their status, the refugees can’t work in jobs where they can advance and they cannot study. The groups goal is to help provide courses in languages, computer skills and other vocational courses. Rebekkah adds that many refugees would wish to obtain university degree but lack of assistance and some language difficulties cause plenty of setbacks. They are planning to begin project “graduation” in which students will be able to visit their education centre at certain hours and study online for their degree courses. She claims that the Sudanese families live in the poorer neighbourhoods of town, in small apartments that are overpriced and sometimes in very bad condition. They are often asked to pay large sums of money unjustly, and when they fail to do so, their water, gas or electricity is cut off. They also are sometimes evicted illegally. “We act as mediators between the tenants and the refugees to solve the problems and right the wrongs,” she adds. Through Rebekkah’s organization, children between the ages of 4 -18 attend local schools but have great difficulties adjusting because of the cultural differences, the academic gap, the language barrier, the war trauma and the feeling of displacement. “Our goal is to provide solutions to all of these difficulties by offering classes, organizing cultural and fun activities and providing emotional support. We are also working in cooperation with the education department in local municipality to register the children and solve all the problems that arise in the schools,” she says. She confesses that there are many obstacles in running the day care centres , such as opposition from local residents, maintaining the centres and the costs. “We are working to solve all the difficulties since without those centres, mothers will not be able to go to work.” She says that children and adults suffer from discrimination and racial and religious hatred, mostly due to misunderstanding, misinformation and xenophobia. And also as a result of direct hate campaign that was carried out by local racist groups. “We are attempting to fight this phenomenon by educating the public, mostly in the schools through positive campaigns and lectures,” she says. The centre that Rebekkah runs is also used for church meetings, parties and celebrations, meetings with UNHCR officials and much more. She says, “We do all this work with love; we do it because we care.” Most of the South Sudanese want to go back now that the new country is born, but many want to wait till July. Those from Darfur or the North cannot go back because of the uncertainty that still exists in that part of the country. Their situation is what one would call a dog’s life in a foreign land!!