http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/.premium-1.652834
3 asylum seekers who left Israel executed by ISIS
The Eritreans were likely kidnapped together with a group of Christian Ethiopians in Libya.
By Ilan Lior | Apr. 21, 2015 | 10:53 AM
The Hotline for Refugees and Migrants reported on Tuesday that three asylum seekers who left Israel for a third country over the past year have been executed by the Islamic State in Libya. According to the report, the victims were identified by family members and friends.
The three Eritrean asylum seekers were probably kidnapped together with a group of Christian Ethiopians. The group's gruesome execution was filmed and distributed by ISIS on Sunday.
At least one of the three asylum seekers, T., was held in the Holot detention center in the Negev before leaving Israel. T.'s relative, Mesi, told Haaretz that the family identified him in the ISIS video. "He appears in the video and in the photographs, definitely," she said. "He had been in Israel since the end of 2007. He decided to go back after the [Israeli[ Ministry of Interior told him he would be better off."
According to Mesi, T. "went back to Uganda or Rwanda – I think Rwanda – where they are not accepted. From there he went on to Sudan, and from Sudan to Libya." She said that he was not able to remain in Libya, and tried to reach Europe by boat. "I understood that the boat was returned to Libya," she said, "where they were arrested. Rumors have it that the extreme Islamic group snatched them from the jail itself."
Mesi said she tried to dissuade T. from going to a third county. "They told him he would be better off if he flies. I asked him not to. He didn't tell us he had signed [papers] to leave." She added that she and other friends of T. tried to tell him things could change for the better, "that [asylum seekers] would be released from Holot."
Mesi added that she did not keep in touch with T. after he left Israel, but received updates from his brother, who resides in Norway. "He told me that T. arrived in Sudan and Libya and that he hadn't spoken to him in a long time because he was in Libyan prison." She said T.'s brother saw the images of ISIS' execution, but did not think his brother was among the group of Ethiopian Christians.
Last month, the Interior Ministry’s Population and Immigration Authority confirmed a report in Haaretz that the authority intends to begin deporting asylum seekers from Eritrea and Sudan to third countries in Africa, even without their consent.
The authority is not disclosing the identity of those countries or the nature of the agreements, but they are apparently Uganda and Rwanda, where about 1,500 asylum seekers have already been sent over the past year after signing a statement that their departure was voluntary.
Under the new policy, asylum seekers from Eritrea and Sudan will be able to be deported without their consent. Those who refuse will also be placed at the Saharonim Prison in south Israel for an indefinite period.
The Hotline for Refugees and Migrants reported on Tuesday that three asylum seekers who left Israel for a third country over the past year have been executed by the Islamic State in Libya. According to the report, the victims were identified by family members and friends.
The three Eritrean asylum seekers were probably kidnapped together with a group of Christian Ethiopians. The group's gruesome execution was filmed and distributed by ISIS on Sunday.
At least one of the three asylum seekers, T., was held in the Holot detention center in the Negev before leaving Israel. T.'s relative, Mesi, told Haaretz that the family identified him in the ISIS video. "He appears in the video and in the photographs, definitely," she said. "He had been in Israel since the end of 2007. He decided to go back after the [Israeli[ Ministry of Interior told him he would be better off."
According to Mesi, T. "went back to Uganda or Rwanda – I think Rwanda – where they are not accepted. From there he went on to Sudan, and from Sudan to Libya." She said that he was not able to remain in Libya, and tried to reach Europe by boat. "I understood that the boat was returned to Libya," she said, "where they were arrested. Rumors have it that the extreme Islamic group snatched them from the jail itself."
Mesi said she tried to dissuade T. from going to a third county. "They told him he would be better off if he flies. I asked him not to. He didn't tell us he had signed [papers] to leave." She added that she and other friends of T. tried to tell him things could change for the better, "that [asylum seekers] would be released from Holot."
Mesi added that she did not keep in touch with T. after he left Israel, but received updates from his brother, who resides in Norway. "He told me that T. arrived in Sudan and Libya and that he hadn't spoken to him in a long time because he was in Libyan prison." She said T.'s brother saw the images of ISIS' execution, but did not think his brother was among the group of Ethiopian Christians.
Last month, the Interior Ministry’s Population and Immigration Authority confirmed a report in Haaretz that the authority intends to begin deporting asylum seekers from Eritrea and Sudan to third countries in Africa, even without their consent.
The authority is not disclosing the identity of those countries or the nature of the agreements, but they are apparently Uganda and Rwanda, where about 1,500 asylum seekers have already been sent over the past year after signing a statement that their departure was voluntary.
Under the new policy, asylum seekers from Eritrea and Sudan will be able to be deported without their consent. Those who refuse will also be placed at the Saharonim Prison in south Israel for an indefinite period.
http://972mag.com/isis-executes-three-asylum-seekers-previously-deported-by-israel/105758/
By Haggai Matar |Published April 21, 2015
ISIS executes three asylum seekers deported by Israel
Video by extremist Sunni group shows execution of three Eritrean asylum seekers coerced into leaving Israel last year.
At least three Eritrean asylum seekers who lived in Israel and were deported to a third country were executed by Islamic State militants in Libya this past week, according to family and friends who recognized them in a video released by the extremist Sunni group. The Hotline for Refugees and Migrants is checking the possibility that additional Eritreans deported by Israel were also executed.
“I recognized my relative, T., from the photos published by ISIS that appeared on Facebook before the video was released,” says Mesi Fashiya, an Israeli-born Eritrean who came to Israel in the 70s. “I thought it was him, but then ISIS announced that it was a group of Ethiopians, so I began to look into it. The people at the Holot detention center also saw the photos — they hoped it was only photos, and that they didn’t really kill them. After they released the video there was no doubt. I couldn’t watch, but my friends in Holot did and couldn’t sleep all night.”
T. a distant relative of Fashiya, came to Israel through Egypt in 2007. He lived with her for a period of time, and the two became close. According to her, T.’s mental state deteriorated after being sent to Holot, and despite her promises to try and do everything to release him, he eventually decided to sign a voluntary departure form and was deported to a third country — Rwanda or Uganda. T.’s brother, who lives in Norway, told Fashiya that T. attempted to reach Europe. He crossed Sudan and reached Libya, where he got on a boat to Europe that was turned back. The last thing they heard was that he was in a Libyan prison.
The video shows two groups of hostages being executed by Islamic State militants in Libya. One group is beheaded near a beach, while another is killed by gunmen. According to Fashiya, who works at the Hotline for Refugees and Migrants, both she and the prisoners at Holot identified two more asylum seekers in the group that was shot. “They are doing twisted things there, beheading them and then placing the heads on the bodies. It is terrible. It is difficult to believe that these things happen, even to people you don’t know. But when it happens to someone you do know, a relative who was promised a better life when he leaves, and this is what happens in the end — it’s unbelievable.
Fashiya says that since the executions, many in the Eritrean community in Israel have changed their Facebook profile photos to black as a sign of mourning. The community is worried about the possible ties between the Libyan authorities and ISIS, and worry that if ties do exist, this won’t be the last catastrophe of its kind, as many Eritreans who try to reach Europe do so through Libya.
It is important to note that the three victims signed “voluntary departure” forms, although most asylum seekers and NGOs see this as another form of deportation, since the other option afforded to asylum seekers is indefinite detention at Holot in the middle of the Negev Desert.
The Israeli government recently announced its intention to begin forcefully deporting Eritrean and Sudanese asylum seekers. Refugee organizations are concerned that the state refuses to reveal its back channel deals with “third countries,” and worry that those same countries will not guarantee the safety of asylum seekers.
Perhaps now, after these horrendous murders, someone in the government will re-examine this policy. However, if Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz’s comments on the hundreds of migrants who drowned on their way to Europe are any marker, it seems that the answer is negative.
Image:T. appearing in ISIS’ execution video (L), and photographed in Tel Aviv (R) (photo courtesy of the Hotline for Refugees and Migrants)
http://static1.972mag.com/wp-content/uploads//2015/04/T.png
Received on Tue Apr 21 2015 - 07:16:23 EDT
