Kids held in jail with no family or rights

As world marks Universal Children's Day, 30 teens who escaped from Darfur to Israel on their own imprisoned. 'I'm not a criminal,' one of them tells Ynet. 'I am afraid to be deported back to Darfur, where I'll be killed'

Yael Branovsky פורסם: 20.11.09, 12:52

Universal Children's Day was marked across the world on Friday, as children with no rights or basic conditions are being held in Israel in a jail cells adjacent to those of criminal prisons.

Many of the refugees, most of them aged 13 to 17, infiltrated Israel on their own from the Darfur region in Sudan through the Israel-Egypt border. They were not looking for a better future, but were seeking to save their lives.

The government, which failed to make a decision on how to deal with them, placed them in the Givon Prison. Aid organizations and elected representatives say the Israel Prison Service is trying to guard and handle the children in the best possible manner, but a jail is still a jail.

The youths sleep in the prison cells and play in a 50-meter (164-feet) closed yard. Their poor studies include a number of basic lessons. In total, there are currently 30 minors who have fled Africa in jail, and the Social Affairs Ministry is finding it difficult to find places for them in a boarding school.

After 16: Chance of finding family weak

Darfur refugees. Escaped death (Photo: Amnesty International)

According to the government's decisions, refugees under the age of 12 who arrived in Israel on their own would be handed over to foster families by the Social Affairs Ministry.

As no clear policy has been set, the government tasked the IPS with dealing with older teens, who are sometimes handled by the Education and Social Affairs ministries.

The situation is even more complicated for a minor over the age of 16, as his chances of being admitted by a boarding school are very low and the only way for him to leave prison is through an adult guardian.

One of the youths, who has been in jail for several months, told Ynet all choked up, "I want to be like all the children my age. I have suffered enough and now I am in prison. I'm tired of this entire situation."

Another youth told Ynet, "I was born in a small village in southern Darfur. When I was 10 it was raided and everything was burnt down. Many of my relatives were murdered. I escaped to Libya and from there to Egypt and to Israel. Friends of mine who tried to cross the border with me were arrested by the Egyptians. I don’t know if they're alive. I don’t know where my parents are."

But the worst thing, even more than sitting in jail, is the terrifying thought that he would be forced to return to Darfur. "I'm not a criminal. I am afraid to be deported back there. I can't go back to Darfur. They will kill me there because the Arabs kill all the blacks. All I want is to go study like everyone and play football," he said.

The goal: 30 foster families

Knesset Member Danny Danon (Likud), chairman of the Knesset's Committee on Rights of the Child, toured the Givon Prison about two weeks ago and was shocked by the fact that the children are being held in jail although they haven't committed any crime.

Until a solution is found for the problem, Danon decided to initiate a campaign for finding foster families to take the children in order to have them released from jail as soon as possible.

Danon told Ynet, "Children aged 13 are sleeping in jail cells for six people. Although the IPS works with a positive approach, its people have been trained to work with prisoners who committed crimes, not with children and youth. They can be handled outside of jail as well, but the Social Affairs Ministry does not seem to be rushing to take responsibility and transfer these children to boarding schools."

Volunteers from the Hotline for Migrant Workers have been visiting the prisons in which illegal residents are held before being deported on a regular basis. They examine their situation and look into possibilities to help release them or solve their problems in jail.

As for the minors, the volunteers say this is a serious violation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which defines the child's welfare as "the very first consideration" and that an arrest will only be used as a last resort and for the shortest time possible.

According to the volunteers, the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child has ruled that lack of legal status cannot justify the detention of children, and that they must be dealt with in proper institutions through social services.

"The Prison Service is doing the best it can to take care of the children, but this does not change the fact that they do not belong in jail," said Attorney Oded Feller of the Association for Civil Rights in Israel and Sigal Rosen of the Hotline for Migrant Workers in a joint statement.

"Our claims are against the Immigration Authority at the Interior Ministry, which issues arrest warrants against children and allows their detention behind walls and iron gates for many months with no purpose whatsoever. Many of the children suffer from trauma related to the way they lost their families and their difficult experiences since then. Experts agree that staying in jail is not good for them," the statement added.

A Social Affairs Ministry official said in response that the ministry's activity is being carried out according to the policy set by the government. The Interior Ministry explained that the plan is not to hold the minors in prison and that they are staying there temporarily until a guardian or suitable boarding school are found for them.

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