Petition asks Supreme Court to stop planned deportation of African migrants

Human rights lawyer Avigdor Feldman files a petition with the Supreme Court calling on it to stop planned forced deportations of African migrants to third-party countries said to be Uganda and Rwanda.

The petition calls on the plan to be blocked until it is confirmed that the deportations will be done, as the government has said will be the case, with the agreement of each asylum seeker.

The petition cites Israel’s Declaration of Independence, which promises “the principle of freedom, justice, righteousness and peace based on the Jewish tradition.”

“We ask that the court order [the government] to stop hunting, searching and arresting refugees slated for expulsion — until there is a ruling on the petition.” Feldman wrote.

Last month, the Knesset approved an amendment to the Infiltrators Law mandating the closure of the Holot detention facility and the forced deportations of Eritrean and Sudanese migrants and asylum seekers starting in March.

There are approximately 38,000 African migrants and asylum seekers in Israel, according to the Interior Ministry. About 72 percent are Eritrean and 20 percent 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 deportation.