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Our History and Progress
The ARDC was founded by Yohannes Bayu who is among the very few recognized refugees in Israel. Forced to flee Ethiopia because of political persecution, Yohannes arrived in Israel in 1997. He was only granted political asylum some five years later following a 23-day hunger strike on the steps of the Refugee Commissioner’s office and an order of Israel’s Supreme Court. Driven by such experiences, Yohannes resolved to help the thousands of other asylum seekers escaping to Israel and founded the ARDC the following year in 2004.
Since it was established, the ARDC has provided more than 4,500 individuals from Eritrea, Sudan, The DRC, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Ethiopia, Ivory Coast and other countries with shelter, food, medical attention, trauma counseling, and advice about the asylum procedure. A further 600 refugee children, adults and youth have received educational and support services, such as language tuition, through our Refugee Education Center which opened in January 2009.
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