Petition urges PM to cancel deportations to South Sudan

Hundreds of academic and cultural figures delivered a petition on Wednesday, calling upon Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to stop a planned deportation of hundreds of migrants back to South Sudan.

Israel recently announced it will deport 700 South Sudanese asylum seekers to South Sudan by the end of March, six months after the new country was formed.

The petition said that South Sudan is still not capable of providing its citizens with basic needs. The young country “faces a harsh situation,” as it has insufficient infrastructure to support its people.

Professor Daniel Baltman, a Holocaust scholar from the Hebrew University, told Walla News that the 700 people need Israel’s help, adding that “It is our moral responsibility” to help them.

Signers of the petition include such celebrated authors as Amos Oz, Etgar Keret and David Grossman, as well popular singer Yehudit Ravitz and actors Tal Friedman and Moshe Ivgi.

Recent reports by UN agencies have voiced concern over the situation in South Sudan, as hunger and poverty spread through the country.

A statement by the Prime Minister’s Office said that according to international law, the South Sudanese migrants are not refugees because since the founding of an independent South Sudan, they are no longer at risk of war and persecution. Before announcing the deportation, Israel had proposed a 1,000 euro incentive for migrants who left Israel voluntarily.

Not a single Sudanese migrant has begun the relocation process, and organizations aiding the refugees told Maariv that the people fear the situation in Sudan more than they fear Israeli authorities.