http://www.timesofisrael.com/interior-minister-1500-migrants-to-leave-this-month/
Interior minister: 1,500 migrants to leave this monthGideon Sa'ar says
number of asylum seekers departing Israel voluntarily has doubled since
January
By Marissa Newman February 18, 2014, 6:23 pm
An estimated 1,500 Eritrean and Sudanese migrants will leave Israel
willingly in February, Interior Minister Gideon Sa'ar said on Tuesday.
"The increase in the number of [departing] infiltrators we have witnessed
each month is dramatic," Saar said, while touring the center in Eilat where
migrants register for their exit. "In December -- 325 infiltrators; in
January the number rose to 765 infiltrators who left voluntarily; and as
stated, we are expecting to double the number of people who departed
voluntarily in January."
The number of migrants exiting the country in February "is reminiscent of
the number of infiltrators who entered Israel during the peak of illegal
infiltration," he added.
The Israeli government offers migrants grants amounting to $3,500 to leave
the country of their own accord. The financial incentive, in addition to
the "infiltration law" under which migrants can be held in detention
centers in southern Israel for indeterminate periods, have urged some
asylum seekers to leave the country.
In 2013, 2,612 asylum-seekers, 1,955 of whom were from Sudan or Eritrea,
left Israel as part of a voluntary departure program, up from just 461 in
2012. There are currently upwards of 50,000 African migrants in Israel.
In early January, thousands of migrants took to the streets in Tel Aviv and
Jerusalem to protest the government policies regarding the holding
facilities and demand refugee status. After a week, the series of rallies
and strikes ended largely unsuccessfully with government officials
maintaining that the current legislation would not change.
The migrants have in the past week resumed their protests.
Received on Wed Feb 19 2014 - 19:10:40 EST