Israel has joined the ranks of the US, Canada, and Europe in being among the world's top western destination countries for asylum seekers. This time the issue has nothing to do with Palestinian refugees.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert recently stated "The situation is not ideal. This is a tsunami that can grow and we need to take every measure in order to stop it," referring to the influx of refugees coming from Africa (over 2000 since January 2008). The Africans crossing into Israel are Muslims and Christians. They come mostly from Sudan and Eritrea but also from Nigeria, Côte d'Ivoire, and Congo. Isreal fears that if it accepts thousands of asylum seekers from Africa, thousands more who are living in Egypt will follow. All developed countries worry about the effects of an influx of poor refugees. But the problem is especially delicate for Israel, which worries about someday losing its Jewish majority to the growing Palestinian population.
At present, the Israeli government is working to find a solution rather than its current ad hoc system. The country has given one-year temporary residency (which comes with medical benefits) to up to 600 Darfurians fleeing genocide and six-month working visas to about 2,000 Eritreans. Meanwhile, it has held thousands of others in desert detention centers while still others live in makeshift, slumlike quarters around the Tel Aviv bus station. This hodge podge policy is a result of a shift in policy from recognizing individual claims to group recognition.
Olmert is also talking both about erecting a border fence and establishing clear asylum procedures for assessing cases individually, which Israel currently doesn't really have.
But, Israel may have more reason than the United States or other developed countries to handle asylum seekers with fairness and decency for the sake of its international reputation as it has already received bad press and seen protests.
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