Diasporic Africans Concerned About the Plight of African Refugees in Israel

By Neil Armstrong

A community meeting organized by the African Canadian Leadership Network at CultureLink in Toronto on March 20, 2018. Photo contributed

The African Canadian Leadership Network (ACLN) says there are many positive efforts from people on the ground in Israel to the situation of African refugees there, but that there is less coordinated engagement from the African Canadian community.

As a result the network recently held a community meeting at CultureLink in Toronto under the theme “The Plight of African Canadian Refugees in Israel: Exploring & Enabling Practical Solutions.”

Amanuel Melles, co-chair of the ACLN, says they have been writing to various leaders in Ottawa about the situation and they want to sustain the engagement around this issue.

He says there are people on the ground in Israel protesting the Israeli government’s action to deport the African refugees.

He notes that it is time to get out of the African Canadian silo and to spread the word about what’s happening to these Africans.

Melles says the state of Israel does not recognize Africans as refugees but as infiltrators.

Since 2006, asylum seekers from Eritrea, Sudan, and other African countries fled ethnic cleansing, persecution, and indefinite military conscription and risked their lives to seek refuge in Israel.

As a Refugee Convention signatory, Israel cannot deport them to their home countries under the non-refoulement principle.

The Times of Israel reports that there are approximately 38,000 African asylum seekers currently in Israel, according to the Interior Ministry. About 72 percent of the migrants are Eritrean and 20% are Sudanese.
“Eritrean asylum seekers fled a harsh dictator and compulsory military service that can last for 40 years. Sudanese asylum seekers fled genocide as well as fighting between Sudan and South Sudan,” it says.

A briefing paper from Canadians Helping Asylum Seekers in Israel and Right Now: Advocates for African Asylum Seekers in Israel notes that Israel’s refugee determination process does not meet the needs of asylum seekers.

It notes that while Eritreans and Sudanese are accepted at rates over 80% in other western countries, less than a dozen individuals have received refugee status and the vast majority have not had their claim reviewed. Israel instead maintains that they are “labour migrants” or “infiltrators” of the state.

The March 20 meeting, which included some Eritreans who were refugees in Israel and recently came to Canada, examined recommendations in a document entitled “Towards Resettlement of a Higher Number of African Refugees from Israel.”

It is calling for the resettlement of 20,000 refugees within five years “which can be achieved through a combination of measures taken by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada and other government departments.”

The document urges Ahmed Hussen, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, to come up with a special resettlement program or relax the requirements of existing programs, using his ministerial power and under public policy and humanitarian grounds.

The public policy could include: a special resettlement program similar to the Tibetan refugee settlement project implanted a few years ago, an exemption of Eritrean and other Africans from refugee status recognition requirements, and UNHCR referrals and refugee status determination.

They say the policy could also provide additional sponsorship spaces for Sponsorship Agreement Holders (SAHs) dedicated to refugees in Israel and encourage SAHs to sponsor refugees from Israel.

The aim would be to resettle 20,000 refugees to Canada within 5 years while encouraging other countries to resettle refugees out of Israel, as well as requesting Israel to allow the settlement and integration of some refugees, especially those who have established themselves or have strong ties to the country.

They are also calling for the allocation of resources for processing applications and towards post-arrival support.

The allocation would be for offices responsible for processing resettlement applications in and outside of Canada.

It would enhance the capacity of settlement agencies or community groups who assist in the settlement of Eritrean and other African refugees by providing additional financial resources.

The additional resources would also encourage members of the Jewish, Eritrean, African and other Canadian communities, institutions and businesses to work together and offer emotional, social and settlement assistance to enable refugees settle successfully in Canada.

The ACLN is a broad coalition of African Canadian leaders committed to advancing the cause of successful integration and settlement of continental Africans.

Given the scale and urgency of the problem, they strategized about how to get the word out about the plight of these African refugees in Israel.

They will be reaching out to the Black Caucus in Parliament, the Federation of Black Canadians, the legal community, students on university and college campuses, faith groups and media.