Fear Mounts Among Africans Over Deportations
Many African migrants in the country are living now in a state of fear, more worried than ever about being deported.
“They told us in January they were removing our collective protection, but it’s only now that we’re seeing action in the field, and it’s starting to close in on us,” said Bernard Abbot, who came to Israel 15 years ago from the Ivory Coast.
“I’ve been living here many years and I never believed that there would come a day that they [the authorities] would start pursuing the few Ivory Coast citizens who live here,” he continued. “But this morning we understood that it will reach everyone, because they’ve arrested a woman and child from the community.
“It’s a hard situation, because people live full lives here, with families and children,” Abbot said. “You can’t hole up now at home and hope that they won’t come. Still, people aren’t going out unless it’s absolutely necessary.”
Ismail, a migrant from Darfur, is also afraid, even though the collective protection offered by authorities to citizens of northern Sudan, including those coming from Darfur, is still in place.
For more, go to Haaretz.com
A message from our Publisher & CEO Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.
If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO