UN confirms deal with Israel to resettle African migrants in West

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees confirms an agreement reached with Israel to help resettle in other countries some 16,000 African migrants currently in Israel in return for Israel agreeing to give temporary status to the remainder — estimated at around 18,000.

“UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, and the State of Israel today signed a Framework of Common Understanding to promote solutions for thousands of Eritreans and Sudanese living in Israel. A joint working group will be set up with a series of objectives and a timetable to implement solutions for some 39,000 people over five years. As a result of the Framework of Common Understanding signed today, the Government of Israel will not pursue its non-voluntary relocation policy,” the agency says in a statement on its website.

“UNHCR appreciates the collaboration with the Government of Israel to find a way out for thousands of Eritreans and Sudanese. This agreement will ensure that protection is provided to those who need it,” says Volker Türk, UNHCR Assistant High Commissioner for Protection, who signed the agreement on behalf of UNHCR.

The statement adds that the UNHCR will help Israel “design programs to encourage Eritrean and Sudanese asylum seekers to move out of the neighborhoods in South Tel Aviv where they have mostly congregated.”