"Enemy" Sudanese refugees in Israel face uncertainty

KIBBUTZ EIN GEDI, Israel, May 29 (Reuters) Taking a deep puff on his cigarette, Sudanese refugee Sanka says sneaking across the desert border from Egypt into Israel was perilous, but worth it -- despite being sent to jail.

''There were Israeli and Egyptian soldiers on both sides. I could have been shot at any time as that place is a firing zone,'' said Sanka, now taking refuge in this quiet Israeli communal farm overlooking the crystal waters of the Dead Sea.

Sanka is among 220 Sudanese who have slipped into Israel from Egypt's Sinai in the past year seeking asylum in the Jewish state or a third country to escape years of war at home.

The numbers have increased over the last year as violence rages in Sudan. Sudan's north-south civil war lasted more than two decades and made 4 million people homeless. Fighting in the western Darfur region has created 2 million refugees.

They have joined a flow of hundreds of refugees, mainly Africans but also from Asia and South America, who have entered Israel. Some hope it will provide a gateway to Europe, others, like Sanka, a safe place to live.

But Israel considers the Sudanese refugees, who entered illegally, as enemy nationals partly because of Khartoum's hostility towards the Jewish state.

Most of the 220 Sudanese in Israel have been put in jail awaiting word on their fate. Israeli and United Nations officials say they are trying to find a solution.

Around 20 of the refugees have managed, with the consent of Israeli authorities, to be placed in homes and collective farms known as kibbutzim. But they would be sent back to jail if they left their areas.

SAFETY Sanka, in his late 20s and from Sudan's stricken Darfur region, spent a year in jail before being allowed to move to Kibbutz Ein Gedi. Sanka would only give his nickname, saying his full name could not be used for legal reasons.

The refugees argue they could be persecuted if they return to Sudan, especially after having sought help in Israel.

''We have civil war in our country and we fled not to create trouble but to find safety,'' said Sanka, who did odd jobs in Sudan. ''I was fed up in Egypt. I came to Israel to seek help.'' Last December, 27 Sudanese asylum seekers were killed in clashes when Egyptian police broke up a sit-in demonstration near the UN's refugee agency office in Cairo. At the time, some 3,500 Sudanese were demanding resettlement in the West.

The plight of the Sudanese refugees has begun to generate debate inside Israel.

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