Israel’s Interior Ministry is preparing prisons in the Negev desert for the mass detention of some 15,000 Sudanese nationals who are seeking asylum as refugees in the Jewish state. The planned sweep, which the ministry now hopes to launch sometime after October 30, follows hard on the heels of Israel’s deportation in June of hundreds…
Some 300 Sudanese protested on Sunday outside Tel Aviv’s Kirya government headquarters against plans to imprison African asylum-seekers in a Negev detention facility. They called on the state to examine their individual requests for recognition as refugees and grant them their rights and protection. The refugees also complained that the United Nations does not do…
In an attempt to pressure African asylum seekers to leave Israel, Interior Minister Eli Yishai has announced that 15,000 immigrants from Sudan will be rounded up and detained if they do not “voluntarily” leave the country by October 15. Not sure what’s less democratic here: an inhumane plan to indefinitely detain 15,000 people (and eventually…
A new enforcement campaign targeting African migrants will be launched in six weeks, Interior Minister Eli Yishai announced Wednesday. Yishai’s announcement came after the campaign was granted approval by the Prime Minister’s Office. Yishai said that the campaign is set to be launched on October 15, highlighting his office will grant assistance to any migrant…
More than 30 pupils of Bialik-Rogozin High School were recently deported to South Sudan, among them five young women who played in the school’s basketball team. The five were the heart and soul of the team, which now consists of only seven players, and its future is uncertain. Rotem Ginosar, a social studies teacher who…
What shall be done about the large number of non-citizens that dwell in Israel? This question is no longer merely vexing, it is urgent, inflammatory, sometimes violent, often vulgar. The ger has a long and detailed history in Jewish texts and thought. Its conventional translation is “stranger,” but you don’t have to search hard to…
For Benjamin Churi Kariyam, it’s no secret why he’s languishing in a crumbling transit camp outside the South Sudanese capital of Juba instead of working in Tel Aviv. Like scores of other African immigrants just deported, Kariyam blames what he calls the racism of Israeli government for his plight. “This is the reason why we…
In this week’s podcast, host Josh Nathan-Kazis talks with Washington correspondent Nathan Guttman about how Jewish organizations are reacting to Israel’s deportation of Sudanese refugees. Then, Forward editor Jane Eisner stops by to discuss if it is Americans’ responsibility to financially support ultra-Orthodox Jews who choose to study rather than work. Then, staff writer Ezra…
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