Israeli jail grappling with rising swell of illegal African immigrants
Almost 3,000 Africans are held at the Saharonim detention center, with hundreds crossing over into Israel every day. By Yaniv Kubovich, Dana Weiler-Polak and Talila
The commander of the Saharonim detention center, which holds foreigners who have fled their homes in Africa, crossed Sinai and entered Israel illegally, notes that “hundreds come every day; others are released or deported. The difficult decisions are not made at my desk,” says Shimon Bibas, commander of the Negev facility. “We simply do the job as best we can.” For the past three years, Bibas has been in charge of one of the most controversial, and least known, facilities in the country. The media has never been allowed inside before, despite repeated requests. At Saharonim everyone who enters the country illegally in the south is detained; some are persecuted asylum-seekers and victims of rape and torture, some are labor migrants trying their luck in Israel. There, fates are decided: Who will be released into Israel, and who will be deported?