The Israeli Government has decided to transfer 700 illegal Sudanese immigrants back to their country, the State of South Sudan, after it concluded that “their lives will not be endangered should they be sent back to their country”.Israeli daily, Haaretz, reported Tuesday that the Israeli Foreign Ministry decided that “as far as International Law is concerned, the transfer is legal”, and that “their lives will not be endangered should they be sent back to their country”.
The Foreign Ministry will be studying the file of each immigrant before sending them back home. A legal and political committee in Israel prepared a 20-page report on the issue, while in April Israel’s ambassador to South Sudan, Dan Shaham, held talks with Sudanese officials on the issue, and handed the report to South Sudan officials.
The United Nations Human Rights Council stated that the immigrants are facing real and serious threats due to the current instability in South Sudan. Right now, the number of immigrants Israel intends to deport is nearly 700.
The State of Southern Sudan was born after a referendum was conducted in Sudan earlier in January 2011. A peace deal was struck with Sudan in 2005, ending decades of violence and civil war. Israel was one of the countries that hosted thousands of refugees.
