Israel Declares: We Will Start Detaining Infiltrators (Refugees) for 3 Years and Deport South Sudanese

According to their claims to the media, the Israeli immigration authorities detained at least 200 "African infiltrators" during the last week, the vast majority of them from South Sudan.

The "Hotline for Migrant Workers" received information about several families with children from South Sudan who were detained and sent to Saharonim prison, near the Egyptian border. During the weekly visit, on Wednesday, the Hotline's activists attempted to visit these families to check how many of them have pending RSD requests, medical problems or other issues that demand attention prior to the deportation. Since the activists did not have the prisoner numbers of the new detainees yet, they were enable to meet them.

We hope to be able to meet these families next week, after they will have access to phones and will provide us with their prisoner numbers. We have information about several Sudanese, including a family with children, from Darfur and the Nuba Mountain who were detained as the immigration officers claim, falsely, that they are from South Sudan. 

The media also reported that the Minister of Interior, Eli Yishai announced that all "infiltrators" arriving in Israel since June 3, are detained according to the Anti Infiltration Bill, which means that they will be detained for at least three years. He also announced that from now on, all "infiltrators" will be held under the Anti Infiltration Bill. Special places in criminal prisons were prepared for the incoming refugees, and the government announced plans to construct large tents cities. Despite Netanyau's claims that  "This week we passed in the Knesset a law to step up punishment of those employers who bring illegal infiltrators". The law he refers to is yet to pass a preliminary reading in the plenum of the Knesset due to objections of the Kadima party.

On June 25, the Ambassador of Eritrea in Israel is invited to the Foreign Workers Knesset Committee hearing to explore possibilities of deporting the Eritreans to their homeland. We will be there, of course, in an attempt to reveal the false declarations of the Eritrean Ambassador and urge the Israeli decision-makers to avoid the deportation of refugees.

Updates will follow.

Sigal Rozen

Public Policy Coordinator

Hotline for Migrant Workers

Tel: 054-8177845