Despite the danger to themselves and their families, many choose to defect and flee the country. Those that manage to reach Egypt, like other Africans, suffer from grinding poverty, harassment and discrimination on racial and religious grounds.

In mid-2007, Eritrean asylum seekers began to enter Israel. That September, the government decided to release 200 to agricultural settlements as an alternative to detention. Where problems arose, asylum seekers were given no choice but to return to prison. Due to a lack of enforcement of protective labor legislation at these placements, asylum seekers were subject to numerous rights violations such as underpayment and substandard living conditions. In fact, their treatment by employers was similar to that of Thai workers located on these same settlements.

Together with the Refugees' Rights Clinic at Tel Aviv University, we strongly advocated against this arrangement. In part due to our efforts, on December 25th, the government announced they would be awarding all Eritreans currently in the country, some 2,000, with work permits. However, those who arrived after that date would not be entitled to work legally in Israel.

During the months of January and February, some 2,000 were indeed granted work permits. However, in late February, the government decided that these would only be valid for work north of Hadera or south of Gedera. We are very concerned that these limitations will lead to exploitation of the type we witnessed last fall. Furthermore, it prevents asylum seekers from accessing NGOs such as ours or the free health clinic run by Physicians for Human Rights, located in the center of the country.

In late February, the government initiated a series of raids on shelters in South Tel Aviv. Hundreds of refugees were arrested, including those holding government-issued work permits and temporary protection papers from the UNHCR. In late March the government announced its intention to deport all Eritrean nationals back to Eritrea- a declaration which remains unrealized at this point. That same week, the Ministry of Interior granted 600 additional Eritrean nationals one month renewable work permits. Despite their earlier declaration, asylum seekers who arrived in Israel following December 25th were eligible for these.

Today, just over 3,000 Eritrean asylum seekers are located in Israel, the largest of any refugee group here. Despite abuse at jobs and arrests, new ones continue to enter. When there is space in prison, they are detained. Otherwise they are released to the streets.

As noted, Eritrean asylum seekers are governed by continuous changes in government decisions, often contradicting themselves.. Furthermore, policy regulating their stay in Israel differs from refugees from Darfur while the South Sudanese are governed by another set of government decisions.

This inconsistency, confusion and uncertainty creates stress for individual refugees, within refugee communities and between refugee groups. Furthermore, NGOs such as ours are constantly required to adjust to these changes on the ground. This wastes precious human resources while complicating our ability to help our clients.

We strongly believe that one policy – based on international conventions – should guide the management of asylum seeker cases in Israel. Our legal petitions, such as those requesting judicial review for detained refugees, and prevention of return to Egypt, reflect this stance. We are active members of The Refugees' Rights Forum, a group of seven NGOs working together to form comprehensive policy and advocate for it on the national level.

Meanwhile, we will continue to help clients like A., providing them with practical and emotional support during this period of uncertainty.