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Martin Plaut

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"If you join the army, you can get a permanent residence permit". The exclusive interview with a contractor aired yesterday evening on Piazza Pulita, produced in collaboration with Africa Express

 Africa ExPress Editorial Team- October 11, 2024

According to what was reports by the Israeli daily Haaretz , Israel intends to recruit asylum seekers to fight in Gaza. In exchange, the government promised to regularize once and for all the administrative status of migrants willing to enlist.

Yesterday evening Piazza Pulita by Corrado Formigli, which is broadcast on La7, broadcast this interview by Carlo Marsili to a contractor who has operated in various African countries. The interview was conducted with the collaboration and consultancy of Africa ExPress

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According to data from the Israeli immigration authority, as of October 2023, there were 23,249 asylum seekers (excluding Sudanese who arrived during the conflict in their country and Ukrainians who fled the ongoing war). In addition, there are nearly 10,000 minors born in the country, children of those who have been waiting for years for a permanent residence permit. According to the Tel Aviv-based NGO Hotline for Regugees and Migrants (HRM), only 1 percent of asylum applications are accepted.

Shira Abdo, HRM’s public policy director , explained that many asylum applications are not rejected, but suspended for five, ten or even more years, creating a “legal vacuum”.

Some military sources have confirmed , while remaining anonymous, that the recruitment is organized with legal consultants specialized in the defense branch. In short, they say that the recruitment of these new forces is completely legal. So far, however, it has not been disclosed how the recruits will be used in the field. Many NGOs doubt that Netanyahu's government will keep the promises made to the "African volunteers", that is, to regularize their administrative status.

Recruitment of Young African Asylum Seekers in Israel

One of the asylum seekers , interviewed by the Israeli newspaper, explained that a little over a month after the start of the conflict with Hamas (7 October 2024), he was contacted by a policeman, asking him to report to the nearest police station as soon as possible. Security officers then explained to the boy that they were looking for specific profiles for the army. The boy told Haaretz reporters that the people he spoke to had stressed: “This is a war of vital importance for Israel.”

After several meetings with recruiters, the young man, who arrived in the country at the age of 16, was offered two weeks of intensive training with others with temporary documents like him. In exchange, he would have obtained permanent residency. "I declined the offer, I have never held a gun in my hand," he later told journalists who interviewed him.

Hoping to speed up their integration , many asylum seekers initially volunteered to help with civilian tasks after the war between Israel and Hamas began. And, according to Haaretz, that's how the idea of ​​drafting them into the army and sending them to Gaza emerged.

War in Gaza

Until recently, the Israeli government has always labeled African applicants as “infiltrators.” Most come from the Horn of Africa – especially Eritreans – and Sudan (well before the conflict broke out in the former Anglo-Egyptian protectorate). For years, the Jewish state has done everything it can to transfer them to third countries such as Uganda and Rwanda. Although it has always denied having accepted migrants from Israel, in 2017 a pro-government Kampala newspaper, “Sunday Vision,” published on its front page: “Israel sends 1,400 refugees to Uganda.”

As the conflict drags on , Israel is running out of soldiers, so much so that in June the Supreme Court had already decreed mandatory military service even for young ultra-Orthodox men, who until then had been exempt from the draft. And now the government is also recruiting the much-despised asylum seekers. Many of them are happy to be able to serve their host country. A 21-year-old Eritrean told Haaretz that since he was a child he had always dreamed of enlisting in the army, of doing his part and then of being Israeli. “This is my dream. Those who do not feel this lack of belonging can see recruitment as exploitation. Those who have no status have no other choice,” he concluded.

Africa ExPress