Interior Minister Eli Yishai announced Tuesday the formation of a special task force to deal with African migrant workers in Israel, saying it will “make sure Israel is free of infiltrators.”

During the past few days, Yishai has been holding consultations with officials in the military, police, and the legal system, and studying different aspects of the issue. “I’ve placed the subject at the top of my priorities for the upcoming year, and I plan to do everything I can to resolve Israel’s infiltrator problem.”

The team has been assigned with the task of coming up with ways to stop the influx of African migrants, as well as expelling those illegally residing in Israel. Due to the urgency of the issue, Yishai assigned the task force a two-month deadline to present him with their findings. He plans to present these at an emergency government meeting.

The task force will be headed by Professor Arnon Soffer, a professor of geography and environmental studies and one of the founders of Haifa University. Soffer is a natural choice for Yishai as research he published in 2009 states that most African migrants in Israel are migrant workers, not refugees, views congruent with Yishai’s own.

For more, go to Haaretz.com

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