Jailing of Darfur refugees spurs moral issue for Israel

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TEL AVIV -- More than 200 refugees from Darfur and southern Sudan are languishing in Israeli prisons after illegally slipping into the country from the Sinai desert, creating a moral quandary for a nation made up of refugees and victims of Holocaust-era persecution.

"I don't know who is going to help me," said Jackson, a 27-year-old Sudanese refugee who used a pseudonym as he spoke by telephone from his cell at the Masiyahu prison in Ramle.

Jackson has been held without judicial review since he was picked up by border police after crossing from Egypt 11 monthsago. He said representatives of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) have visited him several times, but say they can't do much for him because of the hostile relations between Sudan and Israel.

"They said, 'We are going to look for a solution,' but we don't know when. I don't want to come to Israel for a job; I'm asking for humanitarian help."

There are about 230 refugees like Jackson in Israeli jails, according to the Hotline for Migrant Workers, an advocacy group, which has appealed the case to the Supreme Court.

The government says it has no choice but to imprison illegal immigrants from an enemy country.

"If you illegally enter a country, you can expect to be incarcerated. We are talking about enemy nationals who have come here illegally," said Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev.

"We are working closely with UNHCR to find solutions. Our choices are limited. We are trying as expeditiously as possible to find humanitarian solutions. No one wants to prolong these people's incarceration."

But Israeli and American Jewish human rights advocates think the government should release the refugees until their applications for political asylum are heard. They argue that given the Jews' history of persecution, Israel of all countries should be sensitive to their plight.

"It's both a legal and a moral issue," said Larry Garber, executive director of the New Israel Fund. "We appreciate the relationship between our history and the numbers of times that the Jews were refugees from various countries."