This is a guest post by Political Consultant and writer Dan Kosky:
I recently returned from army reserve duty on Israel’s border with Egypt armed with plenty of food for thought. At the same time that the country’s headlines are rightly focused on the long-term implications of the shameful ‘boycott law’ and the Quartet’s failure to reignite Israeli-Palestinian talks, there is an additional time bomb ticking down south.
The Egyptian border is a strange place for a soldier to be. After all, a three decades-old peace deal exists with our southern neighbour and so there is no real enemy to speak of. As a result, we look at their soldiers, they look at us, both counting down the hours of guard duty, drinking coffee to pass the time. Doesn’t sound like a bad way to spend a couple of weeks, right?
But then there’s the real ‘action’. It’s not really the kind of action that soldiers are trained to deal with, but when you’re on the Egyptian border, it keeps you pretty busy. Each night, as darkness falls, groups of refugees from Sudan and Eritrea are preparing to use the cover of darkness to enter Israel. I quickly learnt that it is not only the Jewish people that regard Israel as the ‘promised land’, as it is the destination of choice for many thousands of Africans. My battalion was charged with the task of patrolling around 30km of the 250km-long Egyptian border. Each and every night, we encountered between 25-30 Africans who desperately want to make their lives in Israel. Make no mistake, they really want to be here.
For the refugees of Sudan and Eritrea, there is no luxury of a Nefesh b’Nefesh flight to reach Israel and there is anything but a glitzy welcome. They leave all that they know, to undergo a long, arduous and expensive journey through Egypt, in order to reach the freedom and prosperity that the State of Israel offers, arriving with nothing more than the clothes that they wear. In some cases, they even struggle to manage that, several crossing into Israel without so much as shoes on their feet. Many arrive with awful tales of abuse during their journey, particularly at the hands of their Beduin ‘guides’ in Sinai who are paid to accompany them to the Israeli border. Many reported having handed their ‘guides’ in the region of $2,500 per person, the entire savings of a whole family in the hope of a better life for a loved one. Yet some are imprisoned and held for ransom by their ‘guides’, who hold out for more money from back home. Many of the women arrive in Israel pregnant, having been raped by those that they have entrusted to lead them to freedom.
And so we, the ‘warriors’ of the Israel Defence Force (IDF), stumble across the refugees, who typically wait patiently by the side of the first Israeli road that they see, comforted by the knowledge that they are finally safe. I feel pride that our orders are explicit – once they set foot on Israeli soil, we must give them refuge. I feel pride that the first thing that we do is give them water and any medical attention that they need. I feel pride as an IDF medic helps two badly wounded refugees past the border fence, victims of bored, trigger-happy Egyptian soldiers. They are eventually airlifted to hospital in Beer Sheva. I feel pride in the knowledge that they chose us, the State of Israel and not any other country in this region. Maybe this is what it means to be ‘a light unto the nations’? I think it was Tony Blair who said that you can tell a lot about a country by who wants to get in and who wants to get out. What is happening on the Egyptian border tells me all I need to know about Israel’s role in the Middle East.
But as much as I feel pride, I feel an equal measure of despair at what comes next. What happens once they are in Israel is a disaster, which is not waiting to happen but unfolding before our eyes. The truth is that the Israeli government has no idea what to do with the African refugees. While my battalion picked up 25-30 refugees each night in a 30km stretch of the border, it is safe to assume that hundreds are making their way into Israel on a daily basis. There are certainly thousands arriving every month. So, what happens to them once they arrive?
Within an hour or so of being discovered by the IDF, the refugees are transported on a small bus to a civilian detention centre, where they can spend up to two weeks having their details processed. And then, they are free to go. That’s it. Yes, free to go, usually to the towns and cities which now contain significant African populations such as Eilat, Arad and of course
South Tel Aviv. Although I refer to the Africans in Israel as refugees, only a handful are actually granted official refugee status, the rest left in legal limbo. In truth, many of the Africans in Israel are not fleeing for their lives and are simply economic migrants. That’s fine by me, I certainly don’t begrudge anyone who seeks a better life for themselves and their family. If I am honest about it, many Eastern European Jewish families, mine included, left their homes for the USA and the UK at the start of the twentieth century, in order to establish better lives, just as much as they were escaping anti-Semitism.
Of all countries, surely we, the Jewish state should empathise with the plight of refugees and economic migrants? Yet, our government shows no sign of getting to grips with the situation. Perhaps Israel’s leaders never countenanced the possibility that non-Jews would want to live in Israel? Fair enough, but now they do and they are desperate to be here. Now is the time to wake up to reality and to establish a long overdue immigration policy. No country in the world is expected to have an ‘open door’ guaranteeing free entry to all and sundry. But, Israel’s leaders must have a healthy debate in order to create a sensible framework to decide who should stay, what benefits they are due and who should be refused entry.
It has been reported that a greater number of
Africans entered Israel last year than
olim made aliyah. While the Israeli government rightly pours significant resources into aliyah, barely a shekel is spent on the Africans who are rapidly changing the character of entire under-privileged neighbourhoods and towns. Unsurprisingly, their continued arrival is causing
significant tension among the long time residents in these areas. Bad feeling will continue to grow until the government stops burying its head in the sand over the ongoing influx.It is quite simply unsustainable to leave an ever-growing refugee population to their own devices, with only a handful of independent welfare organisations for help.
The government will likely claim that their solution is the continued building of a new, bigger, better border fence with Egypt, at a
cost of £232m. Two things struck me, as I watched workmen arrive daily to construct the new barrier. Firstly there is the irony that some of those tasked with building the new fence are the very Sudanese and Eritreans that it is designed to keep out. Secondly, the strident determination of the refugees to reach Israel, which will surely be enough to find their way under, through or round any new border fence.
For sure, the Israeli government has plenty to deal with right now and perhaps few view the non-stop wave of Africans as top priority. But one thing is for sure, unless a long-term plan for non-Jewish immigration is established, it will soon evolve into a crisis issue as the refugees become either a significant burden or a poverty-stricken underclass resented by much of society. Meanwhile, their children attend Israeli schools, learn Hebrew and will soon know no other home other than the Jewish state. It is a combustible mixture, primed to explode. For once, the government must look into the future and prevent disaster, but I am not holding my breath.
