This month the Israeli government began a new program insentivizing
South Sudanese refugees to return back to South Sudan or face
deportation at the end of March. This decision came at the heels of a
diplomatic visit by the newly-formed government of South Sudan, made of
the rebel groups whose fight for freedom Israel has long supported by
being one of the only nations to sell them weapons. Refusing to
investigate individual asylum seekers’ claims for refugee status, Israel
claims it does not owe them the protections enshrined in the 1951
Convention on the Rights of Refugees. The Real News’ Lia Tarachansky
speaks with homeless refugees in the park where most live once they’re
released from detention, to Ran Cohen, the Director of Physicians for
Human Rights, and Nic Schlagman, the Humanitarian Coordinator of the
African Refugee Development Center.
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