Netanyahu: Illegals who cross border will be put in jail for three years
Jerusalem District Court rules that Israel can deport Ivory Coast citizens
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Cabinet ministers on Sunday that Israel will begin enforcing long-term imprisonment for illegal migrants as part of a nationwide crackdown on Africans residing illegally in Israel.
Netanyahu said: “Every infiltrator who crosses the border and sits and waits for a bus to take him to Tel Aviv will be imprisoned for three years.”
The prime minister also told the assembled ministers that work on the security fence along the Israel-Egypt border is progressing: “This week will see 190 kilometers of the [240- kilometer] fence completed. The section in Eilat, which we thought would take more time, is moving along and being built quickly.”
Also on Sunday, the Jerusalem District Court ruled that the State of Israel will permit the deportation of migrants from the Ivory Coast residing illegally in Israel, according to Israel Radio.
The court accepted the Interior Ministry recommendation that illegal migrants from the Ivory Coast be deported, rejecting a petition filed by 132 citizens of the Ivory Coast seeking sanctuary in the State of Israel.
In one suit, the Ivorians had asked that they be awarded refugee status due to the dangerous conditions in their country due to the situation in their country. Another suit asked the court to order the Interior Ministry to permit the migrants to extend their visas in Israel, in order to allow them time to legally apply for asylum.
The decision cited a 2011 Interior Ministry declaration that stated that the Ivory Coast is not a dangerous country, and therefore its citizens cannot seek asylum in Israel.
Interior Ministry spokeswoman Sabine Haddad said last week that representatives of the Population, Immigration and Border Authority had begun arresting Ivorians. There are an estimated 2,000 Ivory Coast citizens illegally in Israel.
The Ivory Coast will cooperate with Israel to help return asylum seekers back home, the country’s president, Alassane Ouattara, told officials at the Knesset last week during an official state visit.
The Times of Israel Community.