Israel suspends new relocation deal for African migrants

[webfact]

Israel suspends new relocation deal for African migrants

By Maayan Lubell

 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gestures during a news conference as he stands next to Shlomo Mor-Yosef, Director General of the Israeli Population and Immigration Authority, and Israeli Interior Minister Aryeh Deri at the Prime Minister's office in Jerusalem April 2, 2018. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun

 

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday he was suspending a new agreement with the U.N. refugee agency to relocate thousands of African migrants, as right-wing pressure mounted on him to scrap the deal.

 

Hours after announcing the new arrangement, which would also give thousands of other migrants the right to stay in Israel, Netanyahu posted a message on his Facebook page saying he was putting its implementation on hold until further review.

 

The fate of some 37,000 Africans in Israel has posed a moral dilemma for a state founded as a haven for Jews from persecution and a national home. The right-wing government has been under pressure from its nationalist voter base to expel the migrants.

 

According to the agreement, about 16,250 of about 37,000 African migrants, most of them from Eritrea and Sudan, would be relocated to Western nations while others would be allowed to stay in Israel.

 

At a news conference in Jerusalem, Netanyahu praised the new agreement reached with the U.N. Refugee Agency (UNHCR). But in the hours that followed the announcement he faced growing calls on social and mainstream media to abolish the deal.

 

Some Israelis accused him of caving to left-wing pressure and betraying the residents of south Tel Aviv, a poor part of the city which has attracted the largest migrant community, changing its ethnic makeup and enraging some of its inhabitants who want the migrants out.

 

"I am attentive to you, especially to the residents of south Tel Aviv," Netanyahu said on Facebook, adding that he planned to meet with local representatives on Tuesday.

 

"In the meantime I am suspending the agreement's implementation and after I meet with the representatives I will bring it forward for further review," Netanyahu said.

 

Implementing the signed agreement was expected to take five years and Netanyahu's backtrack was largely seen in Israel as an attempt to appease his voter base and keep its support at a time of political uncertainty.

 

The four-term prime minister faces one of the greatest challenges to his career yet - he is under police investigation in three different corruption cases. Netanyahu denies any wrongdoing.

 

Naftali Bennett, leader of the Israeli far-right party Jewish Home, a key member of Netanyahu's coalition government and a competitor for Israel's right-wing votes, said on Twitter the agreement would encourage more people to enter the country illegally and called on Netanyahu to overturn it.

 

His calls were soon echoed by members of Netanyahu's own Likud party.

 

PRESSURE

 

The UNHCR in a statement confirmed an agreement was signed with Israel but did not name the countries that would accept the migrants.

It said it would "facilitate the departure to third countries to be determined of some 16,000 Eritreans and Sudanese under various programmes, including sponsorship, resettlement, family reunion and labour migration schemes, while others will be receiving a suitable legal status in Israel."

 

Netanyahu named Germany, Italy and Canada as examples of countries that would accept the migrants, though German and Italian officials said they had no knowledge of any such agreement.

 

Canada has an arrangement with Israeli authorities to suspend the deportation of individuals who have private sponsorship applications with Canada until they are processed, said Hursh Jaswal, spokesman for Canada's immigration minister.

 

There were 1,845 applications being processed at the end of last year, Jaswal said.

 

A previous plan already underway for a mass deportation of some 20,000 migrants to Rwanda had led to legal challenges in Israel, drew criticism abroad and triggered an emotional public debate among Israelis.

 

In February, Israeli authorities started handing out notices to male African migrants giving them two months to leave for a third country in Africa or risk being put in jail indefinitely.

 

At immigration hearings, migrants were told they could choose to go to Rwanda or Uganda. Both countries have denied having any deal in place with Israel.

 

The U.N.'s refugee agency had urged Israel to reconsider its deportation plan, saying migrants who have relocated to sub-Saharan Africa in the past few years were unsafe and ended up on the perilous migrant trail to Europe, some suffering abuse, torture and even dying on the way.

 

Rights groups had challenged the deportation in Israel's High Court, which on March 15 issued a temporary order that froze its implementation.

 

Netanyahu said on Facebook that Rwanda had in the past few weeks folded to immense pressure and backed out of the deal it had made with Israel to accept expelled migrants, prompting him to seek the new arrangement with the UNHCR.

 

Since 2005 a total of 64,000 Africans had entered Israel illegally over its border with Egypt, although thousands have since left. A fence Israel has built over the past few years along the frontier has largely stemmed the flow.

 

(Additional reporting by Jeffrey Heller in Jerusalem, Philip Pullella in Rome and Joseph Nasr in Berlin; Editing by Hugh Lawson and James Dalgleish)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2018-04-03

[Proboscis]

As always, the report does not tell us much except that Bibi is so flexible in his views that he could go with either side (expell the immigrants or resettle them in Israel), depending on what gains him political capital.

 

What would be very interesting to know is whether any of these immigrants are Jewish - and before anyone jumps in and says there are no black Jews, there in fact are, as there are Jews even in the far East, such as in Indonesia who also look Asian.

 

If any of these immigrants are Jewish, Israel would be breaking its own golden rule, which is to provide a homeland for ALL Jews, no matter their origin.

[Morch]

4 hours ago, Proboscis said:

As always, the report does not tell us much except that Bibi is so flexible in his views that he could go with either side (expell the immigrants or resettle them in Israel), depending on what gains him political capital.

 

What would be very interesting to know is whether any of these immigrants are Jewish - and before anyone jumps in and says there are no black Jews, there in fact are, as there are Jews even in the far East, such as in Indonesia who also look Asian.

 

If any of these immigrants are Jewish, Israel would be breaking its own golden rule, which is to provide a homeland for ALL Jews, no matter their origin.

 

They are not Jewish.

[metisdead]

An off topic deflection post has been removed.

[bandito]

9 hours ago, Morch said:

 

They are not Jewish.

 As always you think you know it all which you don't.

I have been a crewmember with the Ethiopian Shipping Lines at the m/t Lalibella which had the Lion of Juda in her funnel.

There is a black Jewish tribe in that country which identify themselves as the tribe of Juda.

Israel has actually airlifted a lot of them and settled them in Israel.

Go find a link which says it's not true, you're good in that.

[gogetem]

13 hours ago, Proboscis said:

As always, the report does not tell us much except that Bibi is so flexible in his views that he could go with either side (expell the immigrants or resettle them in Israel), depending on what gains him political capital.

 

What would be very interesting to know is whether any of these immigrants are Jewish - and before anyone jumps in and says there are no black Jews, there in fact are, as there are Jews even in the far East, such as in Indonesia who also look Asian.

 

If any of these immigrants are Jewish, Israel would be breaking its own golden rule, which is to provide a homeland for ALL Jews, no matter their origin.

FYI, Isreal has already accepted lots of black African jews from Ethiopia.

[Jingthing]

This current issue has nothing to do with Ethiopian Jews. Of course there are Ethiopian Jews and they are included under the Israeli immigration Law of Return that applies to all Jews in the world, regardless of skin color. It's hilarious that a poster here thinks he's leaking a big controversial secret about Ethiopian Jews existing and how many are now Israelis. Nothing new. Nothing secret. Different topic.

 

There are separate controversies about the application of the law of return and issues around verifying that you are actually a Jewish person. Not perfect but again, a separate issue from the migrants in this news event who didn't enter legally. 

Edited April 4, 2018 by Jingthing

[gogetem]

1 minute ago, Jingthing said:

This current issue has nothing to do with Ethiopian Jews. Of course there are Ethiopian Jews and they are included under the Law of Return that applies to all Jews in the world, regardless of skin color. It's hilarious that a poster here thinks he's leaking a big controversial secret about Ethiopian Jews existing and how many are now Israelis. Nothing new. Nothing secret. Different topic. 

You should read more carefully. I was answering poster who was doubting  Israel's support of the law of return because of race.

[Jingthing]

2 minutes ago, gogetem said:

You should read more carefully. I was answering poster who was doubting  Israel's support of the law of return because of race.

I wasn't replying to you. It's you that should read more carefully. 

[Jingthing]

On the actual topic here which is NOT Ethiopian Jews, again the Israeli leadership is pleasing it's own far right wing factions at the expense of international public relations. 

[CharlesSwann]

Well, if even Israel can't kick out the migrants, then nobody can. I would have thought Israel - seeing as their own history includes mass explusion and homelessness - would have less sympathy for economic opportunists, especially as the migrants have nations/cultures/languages they can return to.

 

I am still puzzled why it is apparently so impossible just to send migrants back where they came from. The developed world urgently needs to show this will happen or they will continue to be magnets for every third-worlder seeking an easy path to a better life rather than working hard for it in their own shi- countries.

[Morch]

3 hours ago, bandito said:

 As always you think you know it all which you don't.

I have been a crewmember with the Ethiopian Shipping Lines at the m/t Lalibella which had the Lion of Juda in her funnel.

There is a black Jewish tribe in that country which identify themselves as the tribe of Juda.

Israel has actually airlifted a lot of them and settled them in Israel.

Go find a link which says it's not true, you're good in that.

 

Barking up the wrong tree.

 

The comment was made with regard to the migrants/refugees/asylum seekers/whatever referred to in the OP - for the most part, hailing from Eritrea and Sudan. As far as I'm aware about half are nominally Muslim, and none (or almost none) are Jews. Hope that's clearer now, if not quite what the topic is about.