From October 1944 to July 1948, 439 of the underground Jewish organizations Irgun and Lehi men  were deported by the British Mandate authorities from the Latroun prison  to internment camps in Africa, located in Sembel (near Asmara, Eritrea), Carthago, Sudan and Gilgil (north of Nairobi, Kenya). The decision to deport the underground members to Africa was made by the British following the radicalization of their activities and their constant escapes from Latroun. Most of the detainees were not tried and were interned by the power of emergency regulations. A legal appeal to the Supreme Court by the Irgun men was unsuccessful, and The deportees were returned only after the ending of the British Mandate and the Israeli Declaration of Independence.