African Refugees In Israel

There are 40,000-50,000 African refugees and asylum seekers in Israel, most of them from Eritrea and Sudan, but also from the Ivory Coast and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Tens of thousands of Africans escape the dangerous situation in their home country and after thousands of kilometers and many hardships, cross the border between Egypt and Israel.

On arriving in Israel, they usually get arrested and when the detention houses are full, the Israeli authorities put them in city centers without any medical insurance, health care, housing, professional training, education, or any other help to integrate into the country. When the first waves of refugees and asylum seekers arrived in Israel at the end of 2007, dozens of them were put in mass shelters in Tel Aviv until a better solution was found.

Their status is not clear until they get the asylum application, which can take years. The Israeli army has turned back hundreds of African refugees to Egypt, where they've been put in jail or were returned to their country of origin.