Unwelcome in Israel, African Immigrants Dream of Home
When they fled misery at home for safety in Israel, tens of thousands of Africans thought their agony had come to an end, or had at least reduced. However, decades later, its now appearing that home was better, after all.
Their stay in the gulf nation remains in a limbo, living with fears of extradition, even when some have stayed in Israel for over a decade.
Informed by the rising tide of dissatisfaction among Israelis over the African immigrants' presence in south Tel Aviv, Israeli Premier Benjamin Netanyahu recently visited the area and posed for TV cameras with an elderly woman, who confessed being afraid to leave her apartment at night for fear of her African neighbours, and the Prime Minister's words is what has left the immigrants in fear.
"We will return south Tel Aviv to the citizens of Israel," Netanyahu pledged, adding that the Africans were "not refugees but illegal infiltrators".
Netanyahu's utterances, however, were not received well by Adi Drori-Avraham, of the Aid Organisation for Refugees and Asylum Seekers in Israel (ASSAF), who argues that although immigrants originally crossed the border "irregularly", they have since acquired short-term residence visas.
"They're not illegal because they go every two months and they get a visa from the ministry of the interior," she said.
"They're here and they work and they pay taxes. They're not illegal."
Figures from Israeli government as of June 30 indicate a total of 38,043 African migrants are in the country. Of this, 27,494 are Eritreans, while 7,869 are Sudanese.
A 2016 UN commission of inquiry into Eritrea's harsh regime found "widespread and systematic" crimes against humanity and said an estimated 5,000 people flee the country each month.
Drori-Avraham said among those seeking asylum in Israel are "thousands" from Darfur in Sudan, but their applications were yet to receive an answer.
"Some of them have been waiting for years," she said.
Migrants started crossing the porous border between Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula in 2007, when nearly 5,000 entered, Israeli interior ministry figures show.
The number shot up to over 17,000 in 2011, but the following year, Israeli completed fencing the border and deploying electronic sensors to regulate the immigrants menace.
Over the years, migrants caught at the Egyptian frontier were held at prisons in the Negev desert in southern Israel and were given bus tickets to Tel Aviv, upon release.
"The reason we are here is that this is the only area we know. We didn't choose it," said Tsgahans Goytiom, a 30-year-old Eritrean known in the neighbourhood as Johnny.
"No Israeli wants to be here in this neighbourhood."
An anti-migrant demonstration was held in Tel Aviv in 2012, drawing about 1,000 protesters, Miri Regev, a lawmaker from Netanyahu's Likud party and now a minister in his right-wing government being one of the speakers.
"The infiltrators are a cancer in our body," she told the rally, which spiralled into a race riot in which there were shouts of "Blacks out!" and attacks on shops operated by Africans.
Natives have formed "The South Tel Aviv Liberation Front" to lobby the government for harsher measures against the newcomers.
"They brought here a Third World culture, lots of misogyny, lots of chauvinism, lots of homophobia and a lot of disrespect," Front leader Sheffi Paz alleged.
"Disrespect towards the authorities, disrespect towards the law, disrespect towards the residents.".
Goytiom, an Eritrean has been in Israel for eight years and arrived in the country after a gruelling trek across Ethiopia and coming face to face with kidnappers from Bedouin in Sudan and the Sinai, who tortured them. With his wife he operates a kindergarten for migrant youngsters.
"If we had the option of change in Eritrea we would not stay here another month," he told AFP.
"Everybody is waiting for the present situation to change."
Comments (23)
After a dramatic trip abroad one seasoned leader back in the day said something to the effect, "hakuna mtu anapenda mtu mweusi" This tragedy happens world over out of Africa.
I Now Believe that: The Majority of people that are Often Caught being Illegally in Kenya (and thought to be Ethiopians) are NOT Ethiopians as told. They're ERITEREAS.
It's often said that the Black Beauty (Queen is Sheba in the Bible) who visited King Solomon became his Wife (or concubine) was from the Old Sudan Region (now Ethiopia+Eritrea). She came back to the Sudan while Pregnant with King Solomon's Boy Child (whose Descendants are Ethiopians and Eritreans).
Jews are all over the world. Wherever they go they make territories. If they were to be deported, they wouldn't fit in Israel. Israel should be open to immigrants. They were migrants also in Egypt and without the mighty arm of the United States protecting them, the Arabs could make them refugees elsewhere.
IHE REASON ONE WOULD SAY THAT THEY DONT LIKE BLACK PEOPLE IS BECAUSE BLACK PEOPLE ARE THE ORIGINAL MEN IN THIS EARTH. JESUS WAS BLACK HIMSELF BUT THE WHITES WHO DISLIKE YOU HAS INFILTRATED YOURBRAIN TO BELIEVE THAT JESUS WAS WHITE, BUT THATS B.S. KNOW YOUR HISTORY.
Now how did you know that? That Jesus was black. You saw him ?
do research you will be amazed to discover that Jesus was black
Muga, its evidently you are not a good reader of books. Its so clear in the Bible that Jesus was black. Read your Bible my friend. In the book of revelation and if you want more proof i will be more than happy to give you the exact verses. Quick question for you. Is the earth flat or round and support your answer with facts not with hearsay.
First they supposed to move from the Palestinians land where they have bin stealing building the stone wall houses!Secondly they have restricted palestians from assessing the ocean/port where it is a must things coming to Palestine hukaguliwa through the port which is controlled by this idiots??Thats why am supporting North Korea to have even better nuclear coz this will make this country strong n not any country will just attack it??Every country should b allowed to pursue nuclear to its best or everybody destroys his??Please our African leaders fix our countries coz 70% of the world resources still in Africa,fix our countries so everyone in diaspora can return then we can play the same game west/mzungu plays.We can start deporting them too!Very sad the way black person continues to b mistreated like shit!!!Thats one of the reason why I decided to come back home especially for my kids who I always tell them they r Africans n proudly black??
Mkenya Halisi, certainly, I would love for african leaders to fix africa.The problem is, how do we get them to be on one page? Mzungu loves it the way it is.United African would be a big threat to the west.Can you imagine africans controlling the 70% resources you said? Congo,has about 63% of the worlds coltan, an essential mineral in electronic products.
@ Onesmus Ochunyo:
You are right. As you said, " ...And without the mighty arm of the United States protecting them, the Arabs could make them refugees elsewhere."
Once a U.N resolution is passed, the US makes sure that that resolution is reinforced. However, when the same UN makes resolutions against Israel, the state of Israel ignores it and the US does not pass sanctions against Israel.
A case in point, Israel captured the Palestinians territory in the 1967 war. The UN passed resolutions 242 and 338. Up to this moment, Israel has not honored the resolution and are are still occupying Palestinian lands and building new and permanent settlement.
Kenya is very lucky because the then super power Britain gave the Israelis the land of Kenya in 1902. Some Jews actually migrated to Kenya and settled.
Later they declined the offer. The Balfour declaration of 1917 finally was passed in Britain. It is this declaration that was the final basis for the establishment of the state of Israel in the land of the Palestinians!
Apart from pilgrimage to see the Holy land and those who work for the Embassies. Israel is not country watu wanatamani kwenda kukaa. They treat those Ethiopian Jews so badly because they have dark skin.
The African, on average, is a dumb idiot. He's insecure, feels inferior and generally lacks drive and ambition to improve his lot in his corner. Loots and destroys his country, plunging millions into easily avoidable poverty. Sells his country to the west for a song. Steals millions, lives in opulence and like everyone else, dies with nothing! This stupidity and total lack of self-control and discipline is proof enough that he is yet to evolve from the condition he was in 100K years ago so as to join the rest of the human race as it strives to improve it's condition in the world. I say this with tears in my eyes - why are these Africans in Israel and being mistreated in the first place?
So there is no hope for the african?
Go tell Uhuru, Ruto, and Biwott. They're the ones that killed and are still killing Kenya (with the West and now East getting the Spoils).
American jews who attempt to settle in Isreael are discouraged by the insecurity and the restrictive laws of their homeland .Israelites have been described as Caucasian Arabs and are known who mistreat foreignors.East west home will always be best
Kkm there is a lot of hope.Kenya is not where it was 50 yrs ago,we have seen roads,highways,airports,electricity connections,technology n many good stuff happening not only in Kenya but Africa at large.Ask yrself how comes out of top 10 countries in the world 7 comes from Africa which r have bin improving economically GDP wise.So am telling u in 10/15 years Africa will b way way beta off b that's why I keep encouraging my diaspora pple not to b cheated by fake life ya majuu n invest hapa home ndio time ya kurudi u will b in a beta position.Right now in Kenya counties r bin divided right n left coz pple r investing in them.So msiachwe nyuma
The irony of it all is the extensive prayers for Israel you hear in many Kenyan churches on Sundays. I most recently heard that prayer at Parklands Baptist Church in Westlands. My thought was "are we this dumb and ignorant?" Israel does not give a hoot about Africa or Africans.
Our dilemma is compounded by the fact that in every corner of Kenya and Africa, we find ourselves worshiping a 2 millennia carpenter Jew who we call the "son" of god, but we never ask ourselves why even with all this religiosity we are still the disliked race...If this Jew cared for us, we should be far superior than other races! tafakari hayo.
It seems you have not read the Bible. The Jews did not accept Jesus as their Messiah. They are still waiting for their Messiah to come. They were waiting for a King who was to free them from the Roman rule.
So are they still under the rule of the Romans? Whether they accepted him as a messiah or not, he is/was still a Jew.
Very ironic, considering everything the Jews have gone endured throughout history. You'd think they would be sympathetic to the plight of the foreigner....
Huuum, black is not always the welcome in white lands.