Israel has freed nearly 1,200 African migrants from a desert
detention center after a high court ruling paved the way for their release,
according to Israeli Prison Authority spokeswoman Sivan Weizman.
But their
release comes with restrictions. Authorities have told the migrants, who are
mostly from Eritrea and Sudan, that they are not allowed to settle in Tel Aviv
or Eilat -- the cities with the two largest migrant communities in Israel.
About 600
migrants were released Tuesday and another 600 on Wednesday after Israel's High
Court ruled that the government cannot hold migrants for more than 12 months.
Since Tuesday
migrants have been carrying their bags out of the remote Holot detention center
in southern Israel and boarding buses for different parts of the country --
many of them wondering where to go next.
"I spent 18
months in Holot, and I have nowhere to go now," Fedal Eltaher, a refugee
from the Darfur region of Sudan, told Israel's Channel 2 on Tuesday. "A
year-and-a-half ago I lived in Eilat, and now I am forbidden to go there. I
have no clue where to go from here."
Some 45,000
African migrants are currently living in Israel, according to the Hotline for
Refugees and Migrants, an Israeli advocacy group devoted to protecting the
rights of migrants, refugees and victims of human trafficking.
More than 90%
are from Eritrea or Sudan and have crossed into Israel through Sinai, the group
says. Israel has erected a barrier along the Sinai border which has largely
stemmed the flow of migrants entering the country.
Approximately
500 African migrants remain in Holot, the Israeli prison spokeswoman said. For
those released from the detention center, an uncertain future awaits.
"I lived
and worked in Tel Aviv beforehand. I have no friends and family anywhere
else," Adam, a Sudanese refugee, told Channel 2.
"I leave
here with nothing. This does not solve the problem."
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