‘The Haaretz’ reported on Feb 26, 2013:
Though Israel claims the people’s return was voluntary, this claim was rejected by UNHCR, which says there is no ‘free will from inside a prison.’
More than 1,000 Sudanese refugees were secretely being sent back from Israel.
Israel has “voluntarily” returned at least 1,000 people to Sudan, an enemy country that has vowed to punish any of its citizens who ever set foot in Israel. The repatriation was done secretly, via a third country, over the last few months, without the knowledge of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.
All the Sudanese who left “voluntarily” already had Sudanese passports: Since their presence was kept secret, Israel couldn’t coordinate their departure with Sudan. Israel paid for their plane tickets.
In the past, the state has said that Israel doesn’t deport Sudanese nationals, because “Sudan and Israel are enemy states, such that a Sudanese national who has set foot in Israel can’t return to his country for fear of his life, or so he claims.” This is in contrast to residents of South Sudan, with which Israel does have relations. Sudanese law explicitly forbids its citizens to enter Israel.
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