african refugees

Kigali, Rwanda. (Oren Ziv/Activestills.org)

Sent to Rwanda by Israel: ‘We have no food or work. Don’t come here’

Ahead of a mass planned deportation, +972 Magazine joins two members of Knesset on a trip to Rwanda and Uganda to investigate what happens to the asylum seekers Israel is sending there. The one thing that remained most elusive: a future for asylum seekers pushed out of Israel. By Oren Ziv KIGALI, Rwanda — A dark…

By Oren Ziv February 10, 2018

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets with residents of South Tel Aviv, during a tour in the neighborhood, August 31, 2017. (Miriam Alster/Flash90)

What do south Tel Aviv’s residents really think about asylum seekers?

The media tends to stereotype the Mizrahi residents of south Tel Aviv as angry xenophobes whose problems will be solved with the deportation of African asylum seekers from their neighborhoods. But the truth is far more complicated.

By Social TV February 8, 2018

+972 Writer Mya Guarnieri Jaradat’s book short-listed for the Wingate Prize

Guarnieri Jaradat’s book, The Unchosen, is deeply reported look into the lives of asylum seekers and migrant workers in Israel. +972 Magazine congratulates writer Mya Guarnieri Jaradat on her book, The Unchosen: The Lives of Israel’s New Others, being short-listed for the 2018 Jewish Quarterly Wingate Prize. The Unchosen was short-listed alongside The Dark Circle…

By +972 Magazine January 12, 2018

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African asylum seekers take part at a protest against the "Deposit Law" in Tel Aviv on June 10, 2017. (Tomer Neuberg/Flash90)

Israel to deliver asylum seekers to the hands of human smugglers

Even as it invokes the Holocaust at every turn, Israel is feeding the people who most need its protection to a brutal human smuggling industry. In doing so, it becomes an active player in the worst migration crisis since the Jewish people’s near-extinction. Exactly one decade ago, liberal Israelis were boasting of their government’s treatment of…

By Noa Yachot December 29, 2017

Hassan Rahima, a refugee from the Nubian mountains, is waiting for Israel to respond to his asylum request. (Michael Toipol)

Israel’s invisible refugee community

Estimates show that hundreds of refugees from the Nuba Mountains, who fled the fighting in Sudan, currently live in Israel. Despite the danger they face in their home country, both Israel and the international community ignore their plight. By Dror Sadot Over the years, tens of thousands of African refugees have entered Israel. By using the…

By +972 Magazine November 2, 2017

African migrants gather during a protest outside the Supreme Court in Jerusalem, January 26, 2017. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Israelis, treat us as humans — at least until we can go home

The Israeli government continues to pass discriminatory laws against African asylum seekers, turning the Israeli public against us. But how could it be that Jews have forgotten the word ‘refugee?’ By Monim Haroon A new law that went into effect starting on May 1 stipulates that the state will take 20 percent of asylum seekers’ monthly salaries,…

By +972 Magazine May 11, 2017

Eritrean asylum seekers protest in front of the European Union embassy in Ramat Gan, near Tel Aviv, calling for the EU to try the Eritrean leadership for crimes against humanity, on June 21, 2016. (Tomer Neuberg/Flash90)

What will happen to Eritrean asylum seekers after Israel deports them?

The Israeli government must not withhold information from the public about the dangers faced by Eritrean asylum seekers it is planning to deport. By Sigal Avivi Emanuel, an Eritrean asylum seeker whom Israel deported to Uganda half a year ago, agreed to take the risk of being interviewed on camera for one reason: he wanted the Israeli…

By +972 Magazine January 20, 2017

Members of the Eritrean community in Israel light candles at a memorial service for a memorial ceremony for asylum seeker Habtom Zarhum in Levinsky park in south Tel Aviv, October 21, 2015. (Oren Ziv/Activestills.org)

Israeli teens charged for brutally beating asylum seeker to death

Darfuri asylum seeker Babikir Adham-Uvdo was beaten to death by two teenagers after he was allegedly seen speaking to a group of young women. Why aren’t more Israelis talking about it? By John Brown* Emmett Till was an African-American teenager from Mississippi who was lynched on August 14, 1955 during a visit to his relatives. His…

By +972 Magazine December 4, 2016

African asylum seekers rally at Levinsky Park in South Tel Aviv, on Sunday, February 2, 2014. Hundreds of asylum seekers are spending the night in the park in a protest against Israel's refusal to grant them refugee status and the opening of 'Holot', the new detention facility in the country's south. (Hadas Parush/Flash90)

Keep Israel’s militarism away from asylum seeker children

Contrary to what some activists claim, Defense Minister Liberman’s decision to forbid soldiers from volunteering with children of asylum seekers is a good one. By Dror Mizrachi Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman caused controversy this week when he acquiesced to requests by activists in south Tel Aviv and ordered the IDF chief of staff to stop soldiers…

By +972 Magazine August 18, 2016

Asylum seekers eat in makeshift restaurants owned by other detainees, outside the Holot detention center’s gates, July 2015. (Oren Ziv/Activestills.org)

Asylum seekers stage walkout over inedible food at detention center

Asylum seekers have long complained about the half-cooked food in Israel’s Holot detention center. African asylum seekers held in Israel’s Holot detention center staged a walkout from the cafeteria on Saturday night to protest the half-cooked food served at the facility. The asylum seekers walked out just as dinner was being served, instead deciding to…

By Activestills January 26, 2016

African asylum seekers jailed in the Holot detention center protest behind the prison's fence, February 17, 2014. (Photo by Activestills.org)

Israel’s ultimatum to refugees: Indefinite detention or danger

An Israeli court upholds the government’s policy of indefinitely imprisoning African asylum if they don’t agree to ‘voluntary deportation’ to third countries with no legal status. The xenophobia driving Israel’s policy is top-down, but there is another way. By Anat Ovadia-Rosner The Be’er Sheva District Court rejected a petition filed by human rights organizations earlier…

By Haokets November 18, 2015

Gathered on Yarmouk Street, residents begin hurrying to reach the distribution point.’ (Photo by UNRWA)

Four simple things Israel can do to help refugees

There’s no reason contributing solutions needs to be scary. Here are four viable steps Israel can take that will actually help the various refugee populations in its midst. Israeli politicians and prominent figures in the local media have begun paying attention to the refugee crisis playing out in Europe in recent days. Well, actually, that’s…

By Michael Schaeffer Omer-Man September 8, 2015

An asylum seeker stands outside Holot detention center after being released, August 25, 2015. (photo: Oren Ziv/Activestills.org)

PHOTOS: Hundreds of asylum seekers released from Holot — with nowhere to go

Approximately 600 African asylum seekers were released from Holot on Tuesday morning, following a High Court ruling. But their ban from entering Tel Aviv or Eilat — where much of their community lives — left them feeling helpless and confused. By Oren Ziv / Activestills.org Hassan, a Sudanese asylum seeker, looks on as he stands…

By Activestills August 25, 2015