[ad_1]
About 6,000 Sudanese asylum seekers in Israel fear for their future after Sudan, Israel has agreed to normalize relations.
Sudanese asylum seekers in Israel are concerned about being kicked out once the normalization agreement is signed between the two countries, though some hope their presence will be seen as an advantage.
Technically at war with Israel for decades, Sudan this year became the third Arab country to announce that it is normalizing relations with Israel, after the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.
Although the deal still needs the approval of Sudan’s still-forming Legislative Council, it has not been welcomed by Sudanese political parties.
Former Sudanese Prime Minister Sadiq al-Mahdi criticized the announcement, which was also opposed by the Sudanese Baath Party and the People’s Congress Party who claimed that the country’s transitional government is not elected and therefore not authorized to normalize relations with Israel.
Last week, dozens of Sudanese demonstrated in the capital Khartoum chanting “no peace, no negotiations, no reconciliation with the occupying entity”.
The yet-to-be-formed Sudan Council has yet to be established as part of a power-sharing agreement between military and civilian officers, who have jointly managed Sudan since the overthrow of Omar al-Bashir in 2019.
‘One Hundred Percent in Danger’
In Israel, the announcement was met with mixed feelings among Sudanese community members who were “very afraid” of being sent back. Barik Saleh, 26, a Sudanese asylum seeker living in a Tel Aviv suburb, is was quoted as said by the AFP news agency.
Israel says nearly 6,000 Sudanese live in the country, most of them asylum seekers who are not always allowed to work and cannot acquire Israeli citizenship.
Saleh, who grew up in West Darfur, was nine when his family fled the war in neighboring Chad.
“My parents are in a refugee camp,” said Saleh, who arrived in Israel after passing through Libya and Egypt and has lived in Israel for 13 years.
“I will be the first for normalization. But if I am deported, I will be in 100% danger. “
The announcement was met with mixed feelings among Sudanese community members who were ‘very afraid’ of being sent back [Amir Cohen/Reuters]
In Neve Shaanan, a Tel Aviv suburb known for its community of asylum seekers, stalls and restaurants offer Sudanese food, including a version of the popular “phallus” bean dish, served with grated cheese.
Usumain Baraka, a 26-year-old boy who works nearby, holds a master’s in public policy from a university in Herzliya, north of Tel Aviv.
He too was nine when he fled Darfur for Chad, where his mother still lives in a refugee camp.
“They [armed fighters] he killed my father and my older brother and they took everything we had in the village, ”said Baraka.
“At one point I had two options: go back to Darfur to fight for a rebel group, or leave the camp and try to have a normal life.”
“A potential resource”
While young people AFP spoke to expressed fears that their presence in Israel would be at risk under the normalization agreement, some said they would like the Jewish state to see them as an asset rather than a burden.
Former President al-Bashir has overseen Sudan’s civil war in the Darfur region since 2003.
About 300,000 people died in the conflict and 2.5 million were forced to flee their homes.
“We are here because it is not yet safe to return to Sudan,” said 31-year-old Monim Haroon, adding that Sudanese in Israel could be a “bridge” between countries.
Sudan and Israel have said in recent days that migration would be one of the topics on the agenda during the next meetings on bilateral cooperation.
But Jean-Marc Liling, an Israeli lawyer specializing in asylum matters, warned that with the announcement of normalization, the return of Sudanese asylum seekers would likely be on the government’s radar.
“The first thing that comes to the government’s mind is: we will be able to send the ‘infiltrators’ back,” Liling said.
.
[ad_2]
Source link
