Africans migrants protest Israel detention law

May the Almighty God deliver Africans from the anomaly of being illegal immigrants in other people's country as a controversial law in Israel allows authorities to detain people without valid visas for up to three years.

With the increase in detention and as much as 300 Africans detained in the last three weeks after the detention law was implemented by the Israeli Parliament, Africans have been targets of police. However, on Sunday about 10,000 African migrants protested the detention law allowing Israel to detain people without proper documentation. Many of the demonstrators held banners demanding the release of fellow migrants who were jailed for being in the country illegally.  

Over 60,000 migrants have crossed into Israel since 2006 across an Egypt border, mostly from Eritrea and Sudan. Many live in poor areas of Tel Aviv and are seeking asylum in the country. Israeli authorities see these African migrants as threat to their national security and social fabric.

Migrants who are arrested are taken to a facility, in which detainees can leave during the day but must report back by nightfall. Migrants can be held there indefinitely pending voluntary repatriation, implementation of deportation order or the resolution of their asylum requests. Many migrants who take refuge in Israel are fleeing from war or persecution in their countries of origin, but very few are granted official refugee status by the government. Many live on temporary visas and subsist on menial jobs.

Hotline for Migrant Workers, an organisation that advocates for Africans, accuses Israel of pressuring hundreds in its jails to accept payouts and leave. More than left for Eritrea earlier this year, having won release from prison.

The poverty in Africa is so much that our very best brains have fled to search for greener pastures abroad. Unfortunately the governments have not  helped with their .unfriendly policies and corruption.

Please share your African stories on life abroad and leave a comment.

1, 895 Nigerians seek asylum in Switzerland

GENEVA According to Swiss government statistics the main countries of origin for asylum seekers in 2011 were Eritrea with 3,356 applications, followed by Tunisia with 2,574 requests, and Nigeria with 1,895The number of asylum applications in Switzerland jumped about 45 percent in 2011 from the preceding year, federal migration office statistics showed Thursday.
Last year 22,551 asylum applications were filed in Switzerland, the highest number since 2002, the office said in a statement.
"This large influx of asylum applications was mainly due to the crisis in North Africa," and an influx to Europe from March, said the Swiss authorities.
The statement warned that Tunisian asylum seekers were "unlikely to be able to stay in Switzerland" although forcible deportations to the North African nation had been suspended due to upheavals there.
Of the total applications filed, 3,711 people were granted asylum compared with 3,449 the year before, an increase of 7.6 percent.

1200 African migrants evacuated from Libya

More than 1,200 African migrants who have been stuck in the southern Libyan desert town of Sabha for weeks in dire conditions have been evacuated and are on their way to Chad, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said on Monday. The group, half of whom are Chadian, were among up to 3,000 migrants stranded in Sabha due to fighting, the agency said.
Interim government forces overthrew forces loyal to deposed leader Muammar Gaddafi there nearly two weeks ago.
"A convoy of 15 trucks with 1,206 migrants left Sabha on Sunday for Gatroun and is now en route to Chad," IOM spokeswoman Jemini Pandya said.
"This is the first really big group. We have negotiated safe passage for them," she added.
The sub-Saharan migrants, who feared being caught in the crossfire in Sabha, had also been victims of harassment and discrimination, sometimes accused of being foreign mercenaries backing loyalist forces, according to the Geneva-based agency. Those evacuated include a large number from Nigeria, as well as migrants from nine other countries -- Burkina Faso, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gambia, Mali, Morocco, Senegal, Somalia and Sudan, she said. Women and children are among the group. The migrants will be taken to Zouarke, along the Nigerian-Chadian border, a trip that will take a week before going to Faya-Largeau in Chad. It is not possible to go directly from Libya into Chad as the border area is heavily mined, the spokeswoman said.
Non-Chadian migrants will be brought to their home countries or their intended final destinations.
"They had been caught in the middle of this conflict for control of Sabha. The fighting had prevented us from getting supplies into our centre in the town and in getting the migrants out," said IOM Chief of Mission in Chad, Qasim Sufi. "The migrants are extremely relieved that they will now be able to get home and put this experience behind them," he said. At least several hundred more migrants still in Sabha are seeking evacuation, but hundreds of Somalis appear to be moving north on their own, possibly heading for Tunisia, Pandya said. The operation is financed by the European Community's Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection Office (ECHO), as well as the U.S. and German governments, the IOM said.