Israel grants asylum to 200 Sudanese Darfurians

Israel is to grant “temporary residency” status to 200 of the estimated 2,300 Sudanese asylum seekers from Darfur some of whom fled the fighting in Sudan in the mid-2000s, Haaretz reported.

According to the Israeli news outlet, the status which is the same as that of a refugee, will allow claimants to work, become eligible for social security benefits including national health insurance and travel in and out of the country.

Haaretz said the decision to grant the status for “humanitarian reasons” comes after sustained pressure from Israel’s Attorney General, Avichai Mendelblit, on the Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and Interior Minister, Arye Dery.

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Legal representatives of the asylum seekers pointed out that the last refugee status award was given to 600 Darfurians who entered the territory over a decade ago. They expressed disappointment that the interior ministry said it had no plans to allow any increase in the number of officially recognised refugees.

The announcement by the Interior Ministry that residency will be granted to 200 people, along with the clear statement that the Interior Ministry will not deal with any asylum requests in the near term certainly does not solve the problem. We’re talking about a cosmetic, arbitrary solution

attorney Michal Pomerantz said.

The decision was announced yesterday in response to lawsuits filed by 20 asylum seekers in the Tel Aviv District Court complaining about the delay in receiving a response. Lawyers said the body responsible, the Population and Immigration Authority, had not replied to applications made, in some cases, over three and a half years ago.

The status of temporary residency has no time limit but can be revoked by Israel at any time.