Sudanese asylum-seekers in Tel Aviv rally against planned detention

Hundreds of Sudanese citizens living in Israel on Sunday held a protest against plans by Interior Minister Eli Yishai to imprison and expel some 15,000 asylum seekers -- starting Oct. 15.Demonstrators held signs reading “We are refugees, not infiltrators,” “We’re all human beings -- where is the Jewish morality?” and “We’re not criminals -- why are we being put in jail?” Calling on the United Nations’ Human Rights Council (HRC) to intercede matters on their behalf, the protesters also called for a thorough and individual review of every request for refugee status. “We are not criminals, so there is no reason to put us in jail, “ Jacob Berry, a Sudanese asylum-seeker, told Xinhua Sunday.”We got here to escape the famine, the war and not to look for jobs. We escaped from there, we have nothing to do there except to die. We are not criminals,” he added.On Sunday, however, the minister asserted that the program would continue until the last of the migrants and illegal infiltrators were either repatriated or sent to a third country. “My responsibility is not to take care of African citizens, but rather to take care of the state of Israel’s citizens,” Yishai said, according to Army radio. According to several official estimates, some 60,000 African asylum seekers live in Israel, many from South Sudan and Eritrea. In May, Yishai embarked on his “going home” repatriation plan, as part of which some 2,000 South Sudanese refugees were sent back to South Sudan.Yishai also recently announced the planned lockup of tens of thousands of other asylum seekers, until their requests for refuge are assessed.On Thursday, the Jerusalem District Court, which accepted the petition of several human rights organizations, imposed an injunction against the project.