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Netanyahu Calls Out ‘Absurd Campaign’ Against Migrant Deportations

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Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu slammed what he called an ‘absurd campaign’ being waged against the deportation of illegal migrant workers.

Speaking at the weekly Cabinet meeting amid an ongoing furor over plans to deport tens of thousands of illegal migrants, Netanyahu said he wanted to clarify that Israel was adding positions to process asylum requests, that bona fide refugees would be allowed to stay in the country and that a third country to which Israel planned to deport illegal migrants has been found to be safe.

“I would like to clarify three points,” Netanyahu said. “First of all, we added approximately 45 positions in order to expedite asylum requests. Genuine refugees and their families will remain in Israel. We have no obligation to allow illegal labor migrants who are not refugees to remain here. They will be sent to another country. Second, international law and the decision of the High Court of Justice here in Israel, allow us to send illegal labor migrants beyond the borders of the state. Third, the designated country to which they are being sent has already absorbed 180,000 refugees under the aegis and supervision of the UN, because the UN considers it to be one of the safest countries in Africa.”

Referring to comparisons made to the treatment of Jews in the Second World War made around International Holocaust Day, Netanyahu added. “This campaign is baseless and absurd, especially today.”

Netanyahu also told ministers on Sunday that Rwanda is a fitting deportation destination for African asylum seekers as the United Nations is already taking care of nearly two hundred thousand refugees in the African state, according to a Times of Israel report.

At the opening of a meeting of Likud party ministers, Netanyahu addressed Israel’s plans to deport tens of thousands of African migrants who came to Israel illegally from such countries as Eritrea and the South Sudan.

The prime minister has praised deals to send migrants to third-party countries in Africa, but has refused to publicly divulge where they are. Media reports have focused on Rwanda and Uganda as the destination countries.

“There are 180,000 refugees sitting there under the protection of the UN, so the claims that it is dangerous are a joke,” Netanyahu said of Rwanda.

Last month, the Knesset approved an amendment to the so-called “Infiltrator’s Law” paving the way for the forced deportations of Eritrean and Sudanese migrants and asylum seekers starting in March, and the indefinite imprisonment of those who refuse to leave “voluntarily.”

There are approximately 38,000 African migrants and asylum seekers in Israel, according to the Interior Ministry. About 72 percent are Eritrean and 20% are Sudanese, and the vast majority arrived between 2006 and 2012. Many live in south Tel Aviv, and some residents and activists blame them for rising crime rates and have lobbied the government for their deportation.

The amendment has gained international attention and is fraught with controversy.

             (TPS)

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