http://www.timesofisrael.com/israel-flew-migrants-to-third-countries-in-africa/
Israel flew migrants to third countries in AfricaInterior Minister Gideon
Sa'ar says all Eritrean and Sudanese nationals who left did so voluntarily
By Times of Israel staff March 5, 2014, 12:34 am
Several Eritrean and Sudanese migrants who had been held in detention
centers in southern Israel were flown, courtesy of the government, to
countries in Africa for permanent resettlement recently, Interior Minister
Gideon Sa'ar confirmed Tuesday.
According to Sa'ar, the migrants had arrived in a number of African states
in accordance with an agreement signed by both Israel and the destination
countries' governments, Haaretz reported.
The minister said that only a few dozen Africans had left the country, but
added that he hoped more individuals would follow suit and leave Israeli
territory of their own accord.
"Any migrant who wants to go out to a third country can do it, he does not
need my approval, he does not need approval from the Ministry of the
Interior, he does not need an agreement with the [other] states -- he can
just do it."
The Interior Minister went on to criticize Israeli human rights groups,
saying they were confusing the migrants -- most of whom are asylum seekers
that entered Israel through Egypt -- by suggesting that Israel was
attempting to expel them. He insisted that the migrants had not been forced
to exit the country.
"Even radical organizations protesting against government policy cannot
entrench themselves on the tarmac and prevent [the migrants] from leaving,"
Sa'ar said.
"Anyone who leaves, whether it's to their country of origin or a third
country, is doing so out of free will, out of choice."
In mid-February, Sa'ar stated that an estimated 1,500 Eritrean and Sudanese
migrants would leave Israel willingly by the end of the same month.
The number of migrants who had exited the country in February was
"reminiscent of the number of infiltrators who entered Israel during the
peak of illegal infiltration," Sa'ar said without specifying.
The Israeli government reportedly offers migrants grants amounting to
$3,500 to leave the country of their own accord. That financial incentive,
along with the disincentive of the "infiltration law," under which illegal
African immigrants can be held in detention centers in southern Israel for
indeterminate periods, have prompted some Africans to reconsider staying in
the country.
African refugees are loaded on a bus in southern Tel-Aviv, and moved to
"Holot" detention center, on Sunday January 26, 2014 (photo credit: Tomer
Neuberg/Flash 90)
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 African asylum seekers took to the streets
in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem to protest government policies, and to demand
refugee status. After a week, the series of rallies and strikes ended,
largely without success, and with government officials maintaining that the
current legislation would not be changed.
Received on Thu Mar 06 2014 - 09:25:37 EST