The Jewish Journal of Los Angeles has a heart-wrenching story of a Darfuri couple, Ahmed and Fatima, searching for safety in Israel. There are a number of Darfuris seeking asylum there (most currently in prision), but this story, coming out in the middle of Passover, is particularly poignant and raises important questions of responsibility to shelter victims of genocide.Saddest part:
Even as he sits in an Israeli prison, Ahmed's fate and the fate of his fellow refugees could still be determined by Egypt. Both the government of Israel and the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) would prefer to see the deportation of the refugees in Israel back to Egypt, if they were guaranteed not be to be deported back to Sudan.
Given Egypt's record with Sudanese refugees (the Mustafa Mahmoud Park incident of 30 Dec. 2005 in which at least 27 innocent refugees were killed, many more beaten) it is really upsetting that both Israel and UNHCR would rather have Ahmed and Fatima on their own there than safely in Israel. There are obvious security concerns - Sudan is officially an enemy state of Israel - but Ahmed and Fatima are also enemies of their own government! They have been victimized and tortured by the Government of Sudan, and deserve a safe place to rebuild their lives.
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