Sister Azezet wins Italian prize

Sister Azezet, she herself being from Eritrea, lives in Jerusalem and consecrates the hours of the day and the night to work for the asylum seekers from Africa who arrive in Israel. These populations are predominantly from Eritrea and Sudan. Sister Azezet works in close collaboration with the humanitarian aid organizations in Israel and travels a number of times each week to the clinic of Physicians for Human Rights in Jaffa where she works mainly with Africans.

Recently, press reports have described the nightmarish journey of the asylum seekers in order to reach Israel. Gangs of criminals in Sinai have been kidnapping groups of Africans, releasing some to cross the Israeli border while they hold the rest hostages until ransom is paid by those who have crossed into Israel and found work. The hostages are sometimes tortured by their jailers and women, who have been raped, arrive in Israel pregnant. Recent reports have even described a traffic in human organs by some of these criminals in Sinai. Sister Azezet plays an important role in uncovering these crimes.

Sister Azezet was invited to Italy to receive a prize for her work among the Africans in Israel. The prize was given in a ceremony that included other prizes bestowed on courageous women who are working to change the world, organized under the title: "Woman of the Year". The "Soproptimist" prize was bestowed on her because: "her life is to go beyond her vocation and mission to be a woman religious. She has become a symbol of courage in the midst of war and devastation. Now, thousands of desperate refugees, coming from Eritrea, Ethiopia, Sudan and Somalia have found in her not only a listening ear but also a voice that denounces the world of torture and the abuse that they experience at the hands of traffickers in human being".

Sister Azezet responded: "Now that we know, we cannot be silent".

Read the article in Italian here