Israel Speaks
In recent years a population of Afri- can refugees has sprung up in Israel.
Most of the refugees come from Eritrea and some from Sudan
and other African countries.
They come through Egypt and cross the open border to Israel
via the Sinai Peninsula.
Most of them end up in the Southern neighborhoods of Tel Aviv.
Currently, there are over 30 000 African refugees in Israel
and the number is growing.
Refugees don't have social rights and they have to rely on the help
of volunteer human rights organizations.
One such organization is "Physicians for Human Rights"
that runs a health clinic in Tel Aviv where refugees can get
treatment by volunteer doctors.
Shachar Shoham is the director of the department
for refugees and people without an official status.
The significant increase in the influx of refugees to Israel
is attributed mainly to the tightened refugee policy
in many European countries.
Heile Mangastae is a refugee from Eritrea and a lawyer by profession.
He is a member of the Eritrean Refugee Committee that seeks to
change the situation in Eritrea from outside.
The great number of refugees has caused problems in some neighborhoods
where they have settled in Tel Aviv.
Many locals claim the refugees are taking over the areas
and causing insecurity in their home streets.
Recently there have been several demonstrations demanding
the government to deport the refugees.
If we don't express our opinion today, it will be too late tomorrow.
Remember me and put me in the archives of your channels.
Either the state will deport them or the citizens will.
It's a matter of time. It's better if the state does it.
The state should do it in an organized manner.
The Israeli government has yet to solve the problem of the refugees
and migrant workers.
Consequently, in 1998 a few doctors opened a health clinic
serving these people groups.
Almost all African refugees come to Israel through the Sinai Peninsula
where they have to rely on the help of local Bedouins, -
who in exchange for money guide them through the desert.
The health clinic volunteers found out by accident that most of the
refugees face brutal violence in the Sinai.
The shocking descriptions of violence where brought to light
by Aziza Kidani who is an Eritrean nun working as a volunteer nurse
in the health clinic.
Aziza interviews hundreds of African refugees
and records all of their stories.
"For the needy will not always be forgotten, -
Nor the hope of the afflicted perish forever."
Psalm 9:18
"He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds."
Psalm 147:3
Translation: Sonja Mattayev