63 Knesset Members have signed a petition calling upon Prime Minister Ehud Olmert not to send Sudanese refugees who entered Israel back to Egypt. Among the signatories are Likud boss Binyamin Netanyahu and MK Effie Eitam (National Union / NRP).
The signatories oppose the understanding reached by Olmert and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, that refugees who reach Israel will be returned to Egypt.
The petition, circulated by a group of university students, says that "the refugees who arrived here need protection and shelter. Their absorption as refugees is a supreme moral duty, given the Jewish people's history and the values of democracy and humaneness."