By Elizabeth A. Conger,
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East
JERUSALEM, Israel – On Sunday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s cabinet recommended the deportation of 400 children of migrant workers within the next month. The recommendation was approved by thirteen ministers, and voted against by ten, with four ministers abstaining.
Out of 1,200 children considered for deportation this past year, 800 were allowed to stay in Israel.
Of the remaining 400 children, those whose migrant parents have been in Israel for less than five years, and who have not yet entered first grade or a higher grade, will be deported. Those children allowed to stay in Israel must also speak Hebrew, and if they were not born in Israel, must have arrived in Israel before the age of thirteen. The parents of children allowed to stay must also have entered Israel legally. Borderline cases will be decided by a special committee.
Social Affairs Minister Isaac Herzog abstained from the vote, stating: “I didn’t vote in favor [of the proposal] despite the improvements, which I supported, I could not accept deporting a group of five-year-old children.”
Those families whose children do meet the criteria must submit a request to the Interior Ministry within twenty one days. If they are found to qualify, they will be given an additional twenty one days to produce required documentation. If approved, their parents and siblings will be entitled to temporary residence permits.
Netanyahu said of the decision: “This is a reasonable and balanced decision . . . It was influenced by two primary considerations – the humanitarian consideration and the Zionist consideration. We’re looking for a way to absorb and adopt to our hearts children who were brought up and raised here as Israelis. On the other hand, we don’t want to create an incentive that will lead to hundreds of thousands of illegal migrant workers flooding the country.”
Israeli Radio has reported that the Kibbutz Movement has made an offer to absorb the 400 children. Kibbutz Movement Secretary-General Ze’ev Schor appealed to Defense Minister Ehud Barak to freeze the cabinet’s decision. Schor stated that the children slated for deportation were Israeli in every aspect beside their citizenship.
UNICEF Israel protested the cabinet’s decision calling it a “blatant violation” of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, to which Israel is a signatory. “Israel must formulate a human immigration policy and stop the senseless revolving door policy, that wants to deport migrant workers and their children, on the one hand, and bring in new ones instead, on the other.”
Physicians for Human Rights Israel also protested the cabinet’s decision and said: “The threat of deportation that hangs over the heads of hundreds of children is a dreadful edict, which we refuse to accept. We will continue to act in order to make sure that all the children receive legal status in Israel and to assure that Israel establish a humane and orderly immigration policy. Adhoc solutions like this one are no replacement for such a policy.”
Israel has a population of 7.5 million, 250,000 to 300,000 of which are migrant laborers. Only half of the migrant laborers in Israel have valid documentation. Due to security concerns, Israel began to invite foreign workers for limited time periods to replace Palestinians from the West Bank and Gaza to work in construction, agriculture and domestic work. A significant proportion of those initially invited to work in Israel have outstayed their visas. The migrant population also continues to swell because of an influx of African refugees and economic migrants entering the porous border with Egypt.
For more information, please see:
Haaretz.com – Kitbbutz Movement Offers to Absorb Children of Foreign Workers set for Deportation – 2 August 2010
The Jerusalem Post – 400 foreign workers’ kids out – 2 August 2010
The New York Times – Israelis Divided on Deporting Children – 2 August 2010
Haaretz.com – Cabinet Approves Deportation of 400 Migrant Children from Israel – 1 August 2010
