Hundreds protest detention of migrant laborers’ children

Hundreds of Israelis, migrant laborers and their children marched on the Interior Ministry building in Tel Aviv Saturday night to protest the deportation and detention of children of migrant laborers.

Last week the Population, Immigration and Borders Authority (PIBA) of the Interior Ministry announced that 300 of 701 migrant families will be granted residency, meaning the remainder will likely face deportation in the coming month.

Shir Alony tweeted a live streaming video of the march, which wound through the city center to the Interior Ministry building. Protesters chanted slogans like “Israeli citizens oppose the detention of children” and “all of the boys are staying in Israel, all of the girls are staying in Israel!”

One child on camera asked his mother in perfect Hebrew, “Are we Filipinos or Israelis?” His mother replied, “Tell the camera.” He responded: “Filipino, but Israeli first!”

Elizabeth Tsurkov, an activist and blogger, writes that the children in question, “who were born and raised in this country, are facing deportation to a country they have never visited, whose culture and language are unfamiliar.”

At the rally held outside the Interior Ministry, one Filipina mother tearfully implored Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Interior Minister Eli Yishai to overrule the Interior Ministry’s decision.

Evelyn, whose sister was deported three years ago, said, “I am fighting ceaselessly for my status in this country that I not only grew up in, was educated in, and developed in, but a country that I consider and think of as my home.”

Rotem Ilan, an activist with Israeli Children, which advocates for the potential deportees, was quoted by Haaretz saying: “700 children aren’t the problem; they are just an easy way for Yishai to mislead the public and hide the fact that he himself is responsible for the revolving door policy and employment contractors’ domination of the field.”