"Infiltrators" or refugees? An analysis of Israel's policy towards African asylum seekers

Campbell, John; Yaron, Hadas; Hashimshony-Yaffe, Nurit

Abstract

This article adopts a genealogical approach in examining Israeli immigration policy by focusing on the situation confronting African asylum seekers who have been forced back into Egypt, detained and deported but who have not had their asylum claims properly assessed. Based on immigration policies formulated at the time of Israeli independence, whose principle objective was to secure a Jewish majority state, we argue that Israel’s treatment of African asylum seekers as ‘infiltrators’/economic migrants stems from an insistence on maintaining immigration as a sovereign issue formally isolated from other policy domains. Such an
approach is not only in violation of Israel’s commitment to the Refugee Convention, it directly contributes to policies which are ineffective and unduly harsh.

Citation

Campbell, J., Yaron, H., & Hashimshony-Yaffe, N. (2013). "Infiltrators" or refugees? An analysis of Israel's policy towards African asylum seekers. International Migration, 51(4), 144-157. https://doi.org/10.1111/imig.12070

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Publication Date: Jan 1, 2013
• Deposit Date: May 17, 2013
• Publicly Available Date: Mar 12, 2025
• Journal: International Migration
• Print ISSN: 0020-7985
• Electronic ISSN: 1468-2435
• Publisher: Wiley
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 51
• Issue: 4
• Pages: 144-157
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/imig.12070
• Keywords: refugees, Israel, policy, africans, infiltrators