The issue of refugees in Israel has traditionally been framed within the context of the peace process with the Palestinians. Until 2006, the average number of asylum seekers in Israel did not exceed a few hundred per year. Migration flows in North Africa had Europe as their main target. Egypt also received thousands of East-Africans, coming mainly from Eritrea, Sudan, Nigeria, Somalia and Ivory Coast. After serious clashes between African refugees and the Egyptian authorities in Cairo in the last months of 2005, Israel became a more viable destination for these migrants. This led to the development of a new movement in the illegal immigration routes, with migrants departing from Egypt, being smuggled through the Sinai desert, before then reaching the long and largely unpopulated border between Israel and Egypt, much of which is physically open.
