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Israel-Sudan peace deal could send asylum seekers home

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The Sudanese government has reportedly agreed to accept large numbers of Sudanese citizens who currently reside in Israel and have applied for asylum.

By Lauren Marcus, World Israel News

The peace deal between Israel and Sudan may pave the way for Israel to deport thousands of Sudanese asylum seekers, reported Army Radio on Sunday.

The Sudanese government has reportedly agreed to accept large numbers of Sudanese citizens who currently reside in Israel and have applied for asylum.

Previously, deportation of Sudanese nationals from Israel was impossible, as the two countries did not have diplomatic relations.

Sudanese asylum seekers have been a major point of contention in Israeli politics and society over the last decade.

Some 6,000 have entered Israel in the last decade, with the vast majority concentrated in southern Tel Aviv, near the Central Bus Station.

“We are not afraid of being returned,” Faisal, a Sudanese asylum seeker, told news site Ynet.

“We hope the agreement with Israel points to the current situation in Sudan. If there is peace and a stable government, we all would want to return. No one wants to live in a different country far from his family.”

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“We are waiting to get the full picture, but as far as I can tell, the agreement focuses on diplomatic relations between the two countries, not taking us into the account,” he said. “It is a shame, they need to talk about us. We want a full treaty, a good treaty.”

A refugee from Darfur named Anwar told Ynet that he’d like to be repatriated, but was wary about the security situation in his homeland.

“I very much want to return home, but the reasons for me leaving still remain,” he said.

“It is still too early to know the ramifications of the agreement,” a spokesperson for Israeli NGO Hotline for Refugees and Migrants told Ynet.

“Even if Israel decides to deport the asylum seekers, the country will be obligated to examine the requests of every single potential deportee, which the state has refused to do for over a decade.”

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