Refugee status for Sudanese asylum seeker in Israel

Last week Israel awarded refugee status to a Sudanese national for the first time when it recognised Darfuri Mutasim Ali, the leader of a protest movement by asylum seekers, as a refugee.

Israeli Interior Minister Arye Dery made the decision at the recommendation of a professional committee, Haaretz reported on Thursday.

Mutasim Ali (29), one of the leaders of the Sudanese asylum seekers’ community in Israel, submitted his request for asylum four years ago. He began his protest movement about two and a half years ago to demand that Israel give African asylum seekers better treatment. He was subsequently sent to the open detention facility in Holot and held there for 14 months. After a legal battle, a court eventually ordered his release because the state had failed to respond to his asylum request in a timely fashion.

On Thursday, four years after submitting his request, Ali finally received an affirmative response, making him the first Sudanese to win refugee status.

The Darfuri left his native village in 2003 to study geology at a Sudanese university, where he, member of the rebel Sudanese Liberation Movement, also became politically active. He organised non-violent protests, disseminated information about the situation in Sudan, especially the government’s treatment of Darfur is, and called for international intervention in the Darfur conflict.

Ali was detained without trial several times, held in isolation, and tortured. He eventually fled Sudan, and in May 2009 he arrived in Israel, where he spent his first few months in prison.

“I thank the State of Israel for allowing me to be here for all these years and for accepting my asylum application,” Ali said on Thursday. “I promise that Israel won’t regret it. I’ll continue to contribute my bit to Israeli society and the asylum seekers’ community in Israel.

“I intend to use the status I was given to improve the situation in Darfur, so that I can return home safely when the time comes,” he added. “I urge the Israeli government and all countries worldwide to work to end the bloodshed in Darfur and other parts of Sudan. Until then, I’ll continue to work on behalf of the refugee community in Israel.”

Ali’s attorney, Asaf Weitzen, praised the decision. “It’s very exciting that after all the hardships, after such a lengthy period of uncertainty and imprisonment and after endless legal proceedings, Mutasim has received the status he deserves,” Weitzen said.

He added that he hopes this decision is the first sign of a broader change in Israeli policy.

(Ilan Lior/Haaretz)