Slippery Slope

MK Miri Regev, Chairwoman of the Knesset Internal Affairs and Environmental Protection Committee, ordered her security guards to prevent an Eritrean man from entering a bus she was travelling in during a tour the committee conducted in the Central Bus Station area of South Tel-Aviv. (972mag)

(Hebrew – Srugim)

Eilat residents protested against African refugees’ presence in the city.

(Hebrew – HaKol HaYehudi)

Judge Eliahu Bitan of the Be’er Sheva District Court ruled that Simon Waledo, an Eritrean migrant laborer currently being held in Saharonim Prison, cannot be released on humanitarian grounds just because he was tortured before crossing the border. The judge said that since torture of asylum seekers in Sinai is widespare, it does not qualify as an “exceptional humanitarian reason.” He further added that accepting the appeal would encourage illegal immigrants to inflict wounds upon themselves in a bid to be allowed to stay in the country.

A report published by a committee headed by Prof. Arnon Sofer and which was submitted to Minister of Interior Eli Yishai (Shas) concludes that the solution to the “infiltrator” question is a policy of ignoring the UN’s position in regards to the security situation in their countries of origin, transferring them to detention facilities in the south, and formulation of a strict policy in regards to NGOs trying to assist the asylum seekers. (Ynetnews)

(Hebrew – nrg)

Minister of Interior, Eli Yishai (Shas), admits that more than 2,000 North Sudanese were returned to their country “voluntarily” when faced with the choice of a prolonged detention, in violation of the UN’s position that such a return is forbidden since Sudan threatens to punish citizens who were in Israel. (Haaretz)

(Hebrew – Haaretz)

The State Prosecutor’s Office is creating a new department to deal with issues related to illegal immigrants. The new department will be headed by attorney Yochi Gnessin, for whom the position was specially created in order to prevent her retirement from the Prosecutor’s Office, and to which she will be appointed without a public tender. (Haaretz)

(Hebrew – Haaretz)

Israel has “voluntarily” returned at least 1,000 people to Sudan, an enemy country that has vowed to punish any of its citizens who ever set foot in Israel. The repatriation was done secretly, via a third country, over the last few months, without the knowledge of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. (Haaretz)

(Hebrew – Haaretz)

The Tel-Aviv District Court handed a sentence of six months community service to Haim Mula who was convicted in the framework of a plea bargain of involvement in a molotov cocktail attack on the homes of asylum seekers in Tel-Aviv. The judge harshly criticized the prosecution, saying “the fact the plea bargain was reached due to lack of hard evidence was problematic. It is hard to understand how an indictment is served when there is such a shortage of evidence.” (Jerusalem Post)

(Hebrew – Ynet)

Prisoners testified that Eritreans asylum seekers are forced to sign “willing consent” to return to Eritrea or be deported to other countries.

(Hebrew)

Data provided by the Population and Immigration Authority at the Ministry of Interior indicates that in the years 2009-2012 the state of Israel has approved only 22 asylum requests out of the 14,000 submitted.

(Hebrew)