Israel readies for mass deportation campaign targeting African migrants
State to urge asylum seekers, including those held in detention centers, to
'willingly' leave; 'There is no such thing as voluntary deportation for
those facing threat of jail and persecution,' MK Rosin says.
By Ilan Lior | Haaretz |
Aug. 28, 2013
Israel is preparing to start a large-scale campaign to pressure immigrants
from Sudan and Eritrea to voluntarily leave the country after the September
holidays, Interior Minister Gideon Sa'ar announced on Wednesday.
According to Sa'ar, the measure comes in the wake of a third country's
agreement to take in the immigrants or serve as a transit point on the way
back to their countries of origin. Sa'ar said that Hagai Hadas, the prime
minister's special envoy, had obtained the third country's consent, which
was approved recently by Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein.
The minister made the announcement during a meeting of the Internal Affairs
and Environment Committee.
"In the first stage, we will focus on raising awareness within the
population of infiltrators while helping them with the logistics of their
departure, including costs, airfare and dealing with the possessions they
accumulated while they were in Israel," Sa'ar said.
During the second stage, which will begin after the upcoming Jewish
holidays, the state will set a deadline by which "certain sectors within the
infiltrator population" will be asked to "willingly" leave the country.
Sa'ar added that Israel would take measures against those who refused to
leave; once the deadline passes, the state will stop issuing extensions on
visas and will begin enforcing laws that prohibit the employment of illegal
migrants.
Sa'ar said that the plan would lead to the departure of thousands of
migrants over the next year. "I expect the infiltrators leave at a rate of
2,000 to 3,000 per year," he said. "I am certain that it will reach much
greater numbers after the plan involving the third country gains momentum. I
remind you that there are 55,000."
He said that the state would encourage migrants held at detention centers
and those living in cities to agree to the voluntary repatriation.
Knesset Member Michal Rosin (Meretz) leveled criticism at the plan.
"The interior minister's comments expose the government's true intention: to
transfer all asylum seekers in Israel to an unknown third country, the
agreement with which is classified," she said.
"There is no such thing as voluntary deportation when the alternative is the
threat of jail and persecution by the authorities," she added. ". As a
country that has signed the UN convention on refugees, it is our duty to
make sure we are not forcing asylum seekers to return to danger zones."
Human rights groups in Israel said on Monday that a campaign is inviolation
of United Nations policy.
Lawyers for the Hotline for Migrant Workers sent a letter to the Justice
Ministry, documenting alleged abuses by Interior Ministry employees of the
return policy. In a letter to Deputy Attorney General Dina Silber, attorneys
Asaf Weitzen and Nimrod Avigal claimed that jailed migrants are being told
they will not be granted refugee status in Israel and will remain in custody
unless they sign the forms consenting to leave the country.
Some 200 African nationals have returned under the voluntary repatriation
procedure for migrants from Eritrea and Sudan since Attorney General Yehuda
Weinstein approved the initiative in the end of June. According to the
United Nations and human rights organizations, incarcerated individuals are
by definition incapable of consenting freely to leave a country and
therefore they should not be repatriated even if they sign consent forms.
The committee on Wednesday approved regulations that forbid African migrants
from sending money and property abroad. The rules stipulate that upon their
departure, the migrants will be able to take with them funds and property
worth the minimum monthly wage multiplied by the number of months they spent
in Israel. Larger sums would require special approval from the border
authorities. If such permission is not granted, the state may seize the
excess assets.
According to Interior Minister Sa'ar, the regulations are meant to deter
migrants from seeking entry into Israel.