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Sudanese Refugees Face Harassment, Deportation in Israel

Sudanese and other African refugees fleeing persecution often do not find a welcome reception in Israel, writes Jillian Kestler-D’Amours from Tel Aviv.
Children cross the street as residents of south Tel Aviv carry Israeli flags during a protest against African migrants living in their neighbourhoods May 30, 2012. Last week a similar protest held by residents of the low-income neighbourhoods where many of the border-jumpers from Eritrea, Sudan and South Sudan live led to violence, including a rampage that an Israeli broadcaster dubbed a "pogrom". Fleeing poverty, fighting and authoritarian rule, some 60, 000 Africans have crossed illegally into Israel thro

TEL AVIV, Israel — Sitting on his bed in a cramped south Tel Aviv apartment, 28-year-old Adam Keala fishes a bright green Sudanese passport out of his backpack. Flipping to one of the pages, he points to four words: “All Countries Except Israel.”

“If anyone goes back, they will be killed or put in prison. 100%,” Keala says. “From 2011 until today, I know at least five people personally that are in prison [in Khartoum] because they had been to Israel. We cannot go back to Khartoum.”

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