By Ruth Sinai

Faisal Madadal

A Somali asylum seeker who spent three years in an Israeli jail and the last several months being transported back and forth between Israel and Cyprus tried to take his own life at an Immigration Police detention facility over the weekend.

The man, Faisal Madadal, slashed his wrists and was treated in hospital before being returned to Tzohar prison in the Negev. The Immigration Police say that Madadal suffered only minor injuries and is now under constant supervision at the detention facility.

Madadal was due to be deported six days ago to Ethiopia, from where he was to be transported to his native area of Somaliland. Since it is not yet clear whether the Ethiopian authorities have agreed to allow Madadal to cross their territory, the United Nations High Commission for Refugees' (UNHCR) honorary representative in Israel, Michael Bavly, asked for the deportation to be delayed. The Immigration Police agreed, giving Bavly more time to find an alternative destination for Madadal.

According to Bavly, he is trying to help Madadal as a humanitarian gesture, despite the fact that the Somali citizen is not recognized as a refugee since he does not meet the criteria set out by the Interior Ministry. Since Madadal entered Israel in 1999, Bavly has tried to obtain residency status for him in five different countries, to no avail.

Madadal left Somalia after two of his brothers were murdered in rioting against his tribe. In January 1999, he arrived in Israel and was given a residency permit, but his request for recognition as a refugee was turned down. In 2002 his residency permit was revoked after he was arrested during a bar brawl.

When it also became apparent that he was using a fake passport, the Immigration Police issued a deportation order against him. For almost three years, Madadal sat in various prisons across the country, partly because there was nowhere to deport him to and partly because the Shin Bet security service described him as a threat to national security, since Islamic fundamentalists are known to operate in Somalia.

In February, Madadal's lawyer, Shamai Leibowitz, managed to obtain a Cypriot entry visa for his client. On arrival in Cyprus, Madadal asked for refugee status. Within two months, however, he was arrested, flung into prison for three months and, on the day before the Cypriot High Court was due to hold a hearing on his case, was deported back to Israel. Madadal arrived at Ben-Gurion airport with no identification papers and was summarily sent back to Cyprus. The next day, the Cypriot authorities put him on another plane for Israel. This time, he was arrested on arrival and has been behind bars for the last three months.

Source: Haaretx-Isreal News, June 20, 2005