ISRAEL RETURNS FIRST AFRICANS UNDER OLMERT-MUBARAK

C O N F I D E N T I A L TEL AVIV 002547 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/21/2012 TAGS: PREF PHUM EG SU IS SUBJECT: ISRAEL RETURNS FIRST AFRICANS UNDER OLMERT-MUBARAK UNDERSTANDING, FUTURE RETURNS UNCERTAIN REF: TEL AVIV 2052 Classified By: POL/C Marc Sievers for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (C) (Summary) On August 19, ISRAEL returned 48 Africans (44 from Sudan, 3 from the Ivory Coast, 1 from Somalia) to Egypt, the first such return under what the Israelis assert to be a June 25 Olmert-Mubarak understanding on the handling of Sudanese and other migrants and asylum seekers attempting to cross from Egypt into Israel. (reftel) However, when Israel attempted to return a second group of 13 Africans to Egypt on August 20, the Egyptians reportedly refused to admit them. MFA contacts report that their Egyptian counterparts told them that the August 19 return was a "one time" event. Future moves by ISRAEL in regard to the African asylum seekers are not entirely clear. Israeli officials still sound hopeful that the Olmert-Mubarak "understanding" will hold, and no official change in policy has been suggested. (End Summary) ¶2. (C) In a conversation with Embassy Refugee Officer, MFA Deputy Director of International Organizations and Human Rights Simona Halperin explained that following the Olmert-Mubarak meeting, senior Israeli and Egyptian officials were in contact for more than a month to formalize a mechanism for implementing the return of African asylum seekers. Halperin stressed that an Egyptian commitment to neither return Sudanese to their home country nor put them in any physical danger in Egypt was central to those discussions. While Amos Gilad's office at the Ministry of Defense (MOD) was reportedly the Israeli lead in these discussions, the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) and MFA legal department were tasked with addressing the safety concerns for the Sudanese. The result was not a written agreement, but rather a "clear commitment", according to Halperin, from Egypt to uphold these guarantees. ¶3. (C) Halperin reiterated previous comments that, if the understanding with Egypt holds, ISRAEL will grant some kind of status to absorb several hundred of the approximately 2,000 Sudanese already in Israel, with expectations that the United States, UNHCR and others will help find a third country solution for the remainder. ¶4. (C) Regarding the newly arriving African asylum seekers that "keep on arriving every night", Halperin said it was clear that ISRAEL sees the Olmert-Mubarak understanding as an Egyptian commitment to "stopping the flow" as "neither Egypt or ISRAEL can tell in advance" if asylum seekers are refugees, economic migrants, traffickers, smugglers, or terrorists. ISRAEL "expects" Egypt to accept the "immediate, coordinated return" of these newcomers, according to Halperin, "bearing in mind" Israel's commitment to international refugee treaties. Halperin added that if Israel does see a real threat in Egypt to the lives of the returnees, there is a (unspecified) special mechanism to handle their cases, but that generally ISRAEL does not see an option for "continuing to open the gates." ¶5. (U) At a July 15 interministerial meeting, Prime Minister Olmert reportedly instructed the interministerial committee to establish a temporary facility in Ketziot in the Negev -- which Halperin said she expects will be ready soon -- to handle the growing number of newly arriving asylum seekers. Olmert also reportedly decided that no more African illegal migrants will be admitted into Israel. ********************************************* ******************** Visit Embassy Tel Aviv's Classified Website: http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/telaviv You can also access this site through the State Department's Classified SIPRNET website. ********************************************* ******************** JONES