Nation of Refugees Struggles With an Unwanted Group

(Bloomberg View) -- In Israeli lore, nothing more reflects the national rebirth of the Jewish state than the Zionists’ revitalization of the Hebrew language. At the turn of the 20th century in Riga, as Gal Beckerman relates in his magisterial history of the Soviet Jewry movement, “young people dressed in uniforms, marching, singing, learning Hebrew, preparing themselves to be farmers and soldiers in Palestine.” Under Stalin, Jews would gather to study Hebrew, though fear of the secret police mandated that such activity remain clandestine. In the decades that followed, the Soviets would persecute and even jail Jews for teaching themselves the language of the Bible.

These are tales of resistance, of long-distanced Jews desperate to rejoin their people. As Israelis tell their own story, the learning of Hebrew and the quest for freedom are often inextricably intertwined.

That linkage has become ironic, even bitterly painful for the human-rights activists working today with African refugees in the Jewish state. In Holot, the detention center that Israel built in the Negev in 2013 to house African asylum-seekers, professionals and volunteers are hearing rumors of Israel informally preventing these asylum-seekers from learning Hebrew.

There is no rule outlawing its study, but the language is noticeably not one of the subjects taught among Holot’s classes. Activists involved with human-rights organizations insist that refugees who study Hebrew are cited for other infractions, such as leaving the classroom dirty. The country’s aim is clear, they believe: Israel has a clearly articulated goal of getting the refugees to leave, and providing the opportunity for them to learn Hebrew makes them more likely to stay.

That goal was made apparent in a surprising ruling from Israel’s Supreme Court, which is widely considered left-leaning. The court approved the government’s sending Africans who have been refused asylum in Israel, or who have never applied, to Rwanda and Uganda -- but not to Sudan and Eritrea, whence they came. In Rwanda and Uganda, the court argued, the refugees are not in danger. (Activists dispute that assertion, claiming that Israel has little, if any, information regarding the treatment of refugees once they return. Many become unreachable, so it is possible that they have been returned to Sudan or Eritrea.) The court also ruled that Israel cannot keep those who refuse to leave in detention for more than two months. Many asylum seekers thus can be neither deported nor detained -- the court’s ruling effectively leaves them in limbo.

Israel is a logical destination for African freedom-seekers. Its reputation as a liberal democracy governed by the rule of law is known throughout Africa. A Sudanese activist in Israel recently noted that he had heard about the Jewish community’s commitment to social justice and its mission to spread awareness about the genocide in Darfur while he was still in Sudan. It gave him the impression, clearly incorrectly, that Israel would welcome him.

Geography is another contributor. Africans seeking to escape oppression in their native countries can literally walk to the Israeli border. Although Egyptian security forces and Bedouins in the Sinai desert have long constituted a grave danger to those making their way to Israel, the route traverses no bodies of water and, relative to the dangers of staying in their native countries, can actually feel safe.

Thus, for Sudanese fleeing genocide and ethnic cleansings, and for Eritreans fleeing an oppressive dictatorship that often requires army service of unlimited duration, Israel has long been a natural destination.

So rapid was the inflow of asylum seekers that the phenomenon caught Israeli policy and law off-guard. About 2,700 such people entered Israel in 2006; by 2011 the number had soared to more than 17,200. Unrelated security concerns along the Egyptian border led to Israel’s completing its border fence in 2012, and by 2014 only 21 people entered the country while 6,200 left.

The question that Israel faces now is what do with the some 40,000 asylum seekers who have entered Israel since 2006 and remain in the Jewish state. Because the refugees who entered Israel illegally often have few skills, and because their permanence would likely encourage others to cross the border (perhaps, now, through Jordan), Israel is not inclined to grant them permanent refugee status, much less make them citizens. Yet Israel has very few good options.

The Holot detention center, which houses 3,400 refugees but has seen some 10,000 people pass through its gates, has cost Israel some 1 billion shekels ($280 million). Life there is monotonous for the refugees, but many insist that Holot “is still better than Africa,” and refuse to leave. Israel cannot legally deport them if they do not wish to go, though some, despondent at the long wait to have their asylum application processed, have decided to return “home.” There is now a long waiting list of refugees seeking to go to Rwanda or Uganda, despite the uncertainties that await them there.

As Israelis watch European countries contend with refugee problems to which they have no decent solution, they are determined not to go down that route. The liberal democratic principles that are core to its legal system demand that it treat asylum seekers fairly. Israel was created to be home to Jewish immigrants. It also harbors at its very core a deep sympathy to those -- like Soviet Jews -- who came to the Promised Land seeking freedom.

Still, as the Supreme Court’s convoluted ruling makes clear, Israel has proved unable to balance its own security and demography concerns with a commitment to honor the legal and moral commitments at its core and the people for whose futures it is now ultimately responsible.

This column was co-written by Daniel Gordis and Sarah Gordis, community outreach program manager for the African Refugee Development Center, based in Tel Aviv.

This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.

Daniel Gordis is senior vice president and Koret distinguished fellow at Shalem College in Jerusalem. Author of 11 books, his latest is "Israel: A Concise History of a Nation Reborn."

To contact the author of this story: Daniel Gordis at danielgordis@outlook.com.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Stacey Shick at sshick@bloomberg.net.

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