Thousands of African, mostly Eritrean migrants and refugees have been kidnapped in the past years by well-organised criminal gangs and abducted Thousands of miles up north to Sinai. There they are held and tortured for ransom. For his reportage "In the Realm of Death" Author Michael Obert, a long-term medico companion has visited the Egyptian peninsula, where deeply deprived Bedouin communities, which have been marginalised for decades by the Egyptian central government, have specialized in a deeply inhuman form of torture. He further visited Israel, where many of the survivors of this systematically performed form of torture have fled to after an often months-long odyssey. Here, they are safe of torture. Yet, because Israel doesn’t recognize almost any refugees but treats them as infiltrators they are not entitled to the medical and psychological support they would urgently need. On the contrary: They are prone to be sentenced to years of imprisonment or custody prior to deportation. Publicly called a contagious danger to society at large by Israeli officials, they furthermore often become victims of racial abuse.
Michael Obert was able to rely on the assistance and contacts of medico’s partners Physicians for Human Rights – Israel who have been running the Open Clinic in the poor south of Tel Aviv – Jaffa for years now. In this health centre volunteers - doctors and other health personnel – treat people whose legal status makes it impossible to access state health services. For people such as the victims of torture from Sinai the Open Clinic is the institution in which they have access to free medical care and to assistance in dealing with the Israeli health system. Yet, Physicians for Human Rights have no intention to substitute the state und to relieve it of its duty to guarantee access to health - and health services - for all. They therefore use the knowledge they collect and the trust their patients have in them in order to address the problems of this “invisible” part of Israeli society and to urge for change. This is how they were the first to register the torture practices in Sinai and to inform a broad international audience. The Israeli government remains unimpressed and thus many of the torture victims live in constant fear of being deported back to Eritrea or Sudan, even though the lives of many of them would be highly endangered there.
Israel’s Physicians for Human Rights hope that Michael Obert’s moving reportage will be a further step towards pressuring the Israeli government to stop deportations and instead to make sure these victims of torture receive the appropriate care they need.
Call for Donations by Michael Obert for medico international’s partner Physicians for Human Rights - Israel
Dear Friends,
The numerous responses to my report Im Reich des Todes (In the Kingdom of Death) about the abuse of African migrants, published in the weekend magazine of the daily German Süddeutsche Zeitung (No. 29/13) have encouraged me to go on campaigning for the rights of survivors of the torture camps and migrants in Sinai.
I have been cooperating closely for years with Frankfurt based medico international. This development and human-rights organization supports its local partner organization Physicians for Human Rights in running the Open Clinic in Israel in which refugees have access to free medical treatment. Most of these refugees are neither recognised by the state as refugees nor are they entitled to any legal residency rights. Without any legal status these refugees can claim to no rights and thus do not have the access to health services available to other residents and citizens of Israel. The Open Clinic, where Thousands of patients including many victims of torture from Sinai get treated annually, is therefore the only address for them to receive medical treatment.
For further information about the activity of Physicians for Human Rights, an organization not getting tired to call attention to the situation of refugees, visit:
In English:
In German:
Read the article in full length:
The shocking experiences of Selomon, Mikele and Zabib stand for thousands of nameless people, who have gone through similar inhuman experiences. Many readers have asked me to advise how they can assist these people with a donation.
Please direct your donations to medico international in order to support the work of Physicians for Human Rights – Israel.
If you have a German bank account you can donate online.
Please note „Michael Obert“ as a reference in the field “comment”, so that the donations can be dedicated to the correct cause.
Otherwise please donate via bank transfer to:
Beneficiary: medico international
Bank: Frankfurter Sparkasse
Account No. 1800
IBAN: DE21 5005 0201 0000 0018 00
BIC: HELADEF1822
Reference: Michael Obert
We have managed to establish contact with experts specialising in recreation of extremities in order to assist Selomon, the young Eritrean protagonist of my story who has lost both hands in the torture camps. First, his medical condition must be assessed in Tel Aviv. Only then will Selomon be able to review the options (such as prosthesis, transplantation) he has on the way to establishing a new life. I believe it only makes sense to collect donations specifically for Selomon’s surgery when we have obtained this information. Please allow me to contact you again when we have established a concrete plan. This will hopefully be soon!
Thank you for your support and the confidence in me - both as a journalist and as an individual.
With kindest regards
Michael Obert
www.obert.de
www.facebook.com/obert.michael