NEGEV DESERT, Israel, Aug. 25 (UPI) -- Israel began releasing African refugees Tuesday from the Holot facility in its Negev desert, but the refugees are now stranded with no place to go .
A Supreme Court ruling ordered that any refugee that has been held at the facility for more than 12 months must be freed, but the interior ministry has prohibited the migrants from entering or working in the cities of Tel Aviv and Eilat. Both of these are hotspots for Africans in Israel, with many Holot detainees hailing from there.
As Israeli authorities began releasing 1,178 asylum seekers, the refugees became dismayed upon learning about the interior ministry's order.
Seven hundred and fifty people were released Tuesday and the rest will be freed during the week.
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Many are thankful that they are out of the facility but are disappointed with the government's half-baked solution to their plight.
One such refugee named Faisal told Haaretz that he used to live and work in Tel Aviv but since being barred from there, he has been phoning friends and strangers to try to find a place to stay but has been unsuccessful. He has no money and fears being placed back into Holot as the situations becomes messy. Another refugee from Sudan told Haaretz that he would head to Jerusalem despite not having a place to stay there. He also lived in Tel Aviv, where he worked at a hotel and a restaurant.
Some companies crowded the center as they attempted to recruit employees. One such company, the Isrotel hotel chain, conducted interviews on the spot for workers that would fill positions not normally sought after by Israelis, such as housekeeping and pool cleaning.
Approximately 50,000 African immigrants reside in Israel, most of them hailing from Eritrea and Sudan. Israeli authorities, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, say that if the immigrants' entry is not cut off, the numbers will swell and "threaten the country's Jewish character."
