South Sudanese citizens in Israel need at least a year or two before they will
be ready to return home, a group of migrants said in a meeting held in South Tel
Aviv on Monday evening.
Around three dozen South Sudanese crowded into a
basement on the Neveh Sha’anan pedestrian boulevard Monday night, and spoke with
a mixture of bitterness and confusion about a government decision announced last
Tuesday by the Population, Immigration, and Borders Authority (PIBA) that gives
them until April 1 to leave the country willingly or face forced
deportation.
William Akon, a South Sudanese citizen studying at the
Interdisciplinary Center in Herzliya, said that “we want the government [of
Israel] to show us goodness, if they don’t, then South Sudan and Israel will
have a peace like Egypt and Jordan have with Israel – where there are relations
but Israelis don’t feel free to walk the street. We don’t want
this.”
Akon called on the Israeli government to give them more time to
prepare to return, as well as vocational training that will help them start
their lives anew.
When asked if the community will hold demonstrations to
protest the decision, Isaac Malik said he thinks that they would have no affect
on the government, which is already aware of the situation in South
Sudan.
“There is a war still going on between North and South Sudan,
there are areas in South Sudan still claimed by the North, if you send people
from these areas back, what will happen to them?” Malik asked. “They need to
give us at least two years to prepare to return.”
Sunday Dieng said the
community wants “to send the message to the Israeli government that we are not
their enemies, we are their friends,” adding that if people are sent back now,
they will find themselves on the street and will view Israel as their
enemy.
The sentiment was repeated by Samuel Gak, who said Israel should
not hasten to send people back to “a country with no security, no water. We need
time to stay here and see how things develop in South Sudan.”
Others
present spoke of suspicion towards non-governmental bodies that have been
chartering flights to return South Sudanese home, particularly the International
Christian Embassy, which has organized a number of such flights. Instead, they
said they recognize only the legitimacy of the Israeli government and the United
Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) to carry out the
repatriations.
They also called on the Israeli government and the UN to
examine their asylum requests – which they say have been ignored – on an
individual basis.
In addition, they said the Israeli government should
prove their claim that the South Sudanese government has called on all
expatriates to return home, arguing that they don’t believe that the government
would want everyone to return when South Sudan is not yet in a position to
absorb them.
Before the meeting began, the men huddled around a small TV
set and watched a live broadcast from South Sudanese television, in which
military and governmental officials from Juba spoke of tensions with Khartoum
and the fighting still plaguing the new-found state.
PIBA issued an
English language statement with their relocation announcement, titled “A call
for the people of South Sudan.” The agency said those willing to leave of their
own volition will be provided with assistance by the state, including a onetime
stipend of 1,000 euros per person. After April 1, the stipend will no longer be
available.
In the statement, they said: “Now that South Sudan has become
an independent state, it is time for you to return to your
homeland.
While this is not a simple move, the State of Israel is
committed to helping those who wish to return voluntarily in the near future.”
The message also included a helpline for those seeking assistance.
The South Sudanese population in Israel is predominantly Christian and according to PIBA, they number around 3,000 in Israel. Members of the community themselves estimate the number to be far lower, closer to 500 at most.