14.04.25, Bar Peleg, Haaretz
Two Sudanese citizens who crossed the Israel-Jordan border were held by the Israeli army for two weeks. The asylum seekers said they were blindfolded, handcuffed, and threatened, and were only allowed to shower once
The Israel Defense Forces held two asylum seekers from Sudan who entered Israel through Jordan for two weeks under the same conditions in which security prisoners are held. No legal advice was available to them, and the Population and Immigration Authority, which is responsible for such cases, was not informed of their detention.
The two men crossed into Israel at the end of February and were taken to an army detention facility after they were caught. This facility is the same one used for detaining Palestinians before they are sent to security prisons for interrogation.
The army transferred the two men to the Immigration Authority only after two weeks, as is customary with those who cross the border illegally. They did not see any judicial authority during this period. The two then remained under administrative guard for an additional month until they were released last week.
According to the IDF, 91 people were arrested between 2021 and 2023 after crossing from Jordan into Israel. Estimates are that the actual number of crossers was much higher, with most of them deported to Jordan immediately after being apprehended.
One of the two men escaped Darfur in early 2023, but could not receive asylum in Jordan since the UN refugee agency was not taking in more refugees there. His living conditions in Jordan were harsh, with no rights afforded, leaving him vulnerable to exploitation. The second man reached Jordan in 2013, where he applied and received asylum through the UN Refugee Agency.
Jordan is not a signatory to the UN’s refugee convention and thus does not provide refugees with protection or minimal living conditions. In addition to the increased number of work migrants entering Israel from Jordan in recent years, there has also been an uptick in the number of people seeking asylum, some of them victims of human trafficking.
Last month, the army shot and killed three people, two Eritreans and an Ethiopian, who had entered Israel illegally in order to join families living here. This was the first instance of asylum seekers being killed on Israel’s eastern border.
The two Darfuris were arrested near Jericho after soldiers opened fire at them. After their release from detention, they told a worker from the Hotline for Refugees and Migrants, a human rights organization, that they were handcuffed and blindfolded during their detention, not told where they were being taken.
During two weeks of detention, they were only allowed to shower once. They said they were threatened by soldiers who pointed guns at them and threw their food on the floor. Their only water was from a dirty faucet in a bathroom.
In an interview with a border control supervisor, they talked about a “smuggling industry” bringing people into Israel. “I met someone called Ahmed and gave him $2,500,” one of the asylum seekers explained. “He came at night and took me and my friend from Amman to Mount Nevo, and from there to the border. He showed us where to cross,” he said.
The asylum seeker said the two crossed the border near Jericho, and shortly after, a jeep came and arrested them. When asked whether he had been afraid of being shot while crossing, he said that he was, but that he “had no choice.”
After their release, the Sudanese citizens were taken to Ben-Gurion Airport. After questioning, it was determined that they had come for economic reasons, and they were sent to a detention facility run by the Population and Immigration Authority. There, they filled out forms requesting asylum.
The Authority told a court that they would be deported to Jordan as, according to Israeli policy, it cannot deport asylum seekers back to Sudan. A lawyer on behalf of the Hotline said that their lives would be in danger in Jordan. After a border control officer admitted that there were difficulties in deporting people to Jordan, the judge released the two men.
The only way the army and state can deport people to Jordan, the “hot return” policy, is by immediately sending them back across the border after detaining them. The group that included the three asylum seekers who were killed included women from Sri Lanka and another Ethiopian man, all of whom were immediately deported to Jordan.
The army revealed the details of the deportation policy to a non-profit group. A “hot return” must be carried out within 12 hours of entry (or 24 hours on Shabbat or on holidays). This must be coordinated with state agencies and the Red Cross or peacekeeping forces where present. This is not done if it can be ascertained that a person’s life or liberty would be in danger if they were returned to their country of origin or that they have a valid reason to be considered a refugee. The matter then goes to Israel’s internal affairs ministry.
In its response to this article, the IDF Spokesperson Unit stated: “An IDF force arrested two suspects who had crossed the border with Jordan, and transferred them to a detention facility, where a deportation order was signed.”
According to the statement, a few days later, the two were transferred to the Population and Immigration Authority. The IDF said it investigated claims of harsh detention conditions but could not verify them. The statement added that “The detainees were not cuffed or blindfolded during their detention and were afforded conditions congruent with international law during their stay at the facility.”
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