Sudanese Come To Israel So World Will Care When They’re Mistreated

“It’s such a different feeling,” gushed Mgonna Skwattir, 27, originally from the Darfur region.

South Tel Aviv, March 6 – Tens of thousands of Sudanese living in Israel say they fled their native country amid horrific violence and the knowledge that in contrast to the situation in war-torn Sudan, if Israel seeks to harm them in any way the world will actually do or say something.

Civil war, ethnic strife, and sporadic episodes of genocide have plagued Sudan for more than sixty years, causing several generations of Sudanese to depart for greener pastures, either out of direct fear of harm and persecution, or simple hope for a better life elsewhere. Israel appeals to migrants from Africa in general, because of its relative political stability, economic prosperity, proximity to Europe, and lack of efforts to kill, rape, and, and systematically persecute migrants. If migrants – some of whom qualify as refugees under international conventions – experience abuse at the hands of Israelis, the international media will ensure that the incident receives coverage and pressure will be brought to bear on Israel to improve its treatment of illegal immigrants; whereas if the abuse took place in Sudan, the international media will file a two-line story relegated to the “World News Briefs” section of their publications, if at all.

The rate of Sudanese migration to Israel has fluctuated, but the first decade of this century saw a marked increase until Israel completed a wall along its border with Egypt. Estimates of the number of Sudanese in Israel vary, but even the conservative estimates put it in the tens of thousands. Studies indicate that on the way, roughly half experience rape, torture, attempted murder, and other abusive treatment at the hands of smugglers, but now that they are in Israel, journalists, activists, and UN human rights officials will pay attention when anyone wrongs them.

“It’s such a different feeling,” gushed Mgonna Skwattir, 27, originally from the Darfur region. “In Egypt they shoot at us and it only makes news around the world when the number of victims is higher than usual. But if I tell a Haaretz reporter that a man with a skullcap – or, better yet, a police or IDF uniform – looked at me funny, it’ll be all over the evening news in Europe. I could get used to this.” Skwattir said he has managed to find a job cleaning stairwells and no longer fears that Muslim militias will come during the night and slaughter the whole neighborhood, but that the greater shock was the world’s sudden interest in his welfare.

“I don’t know what accounts for the difference,” he said. “People are dying and suffering all the time in Sudan – all over East Africa, really – in horrific numbers. But from where the attention is focused on, for example, the UN Human Rights Council, you’d barely know about it. Sudan and Burundi have recently been members of that august body, if I’m not mistaken. So is it any wonder we Sudanese, Eritreans, and other Africans try to get someplace where the international community at least pretends to care about what happens to us?”