From the Liveblog of
Thursday, March 10, 2022
TV report: Ukrainian arrivals facing callous treatment at Ben Gurion Airport
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleDespite Israel saying it will accept 5,000 Ukrainian refugees, many are stuck at Ben Gurion Airport, facing cold and callous treatment, Channel 12 reports.
The network documents many arrivals from the war-torn country, some of them elderly, who are held up for long hours and repeatedly questioned with little food and water.
One relative of refugees says: “People are crying, there’s hysteria, panic. They’re saying ‘We’re ready to go back to Ukraine.'”
He says officials at the airport “say that if someone has Jewish roots to stand in one line and if not to stand in another line… That’s what’s going on here in Israel, with everything we know about how wars are.”
The Population and Immigration Authority says it is doing everything it can to handle the massive influx of refugees, and insists it is treating all arrivals with respect. It also says it hands out thousands of sandwiches and water bottles a day.
נתב"ג לפני שעה, ב12:20. פליטים מחכים לתשאול כדי לדעת אם יוכלו בכלל להכנס לישראל. וזה אחרי ימים בדרכים, לילות במחנות פליטים. חלקם עזבו תחת אש. pic.twitter.com/ruFILsqzfi
— Masha Averbuch (@Ave__Masha) March 9, 2022
The Times of Israel Community.