The latest figures released by the Population and Immigration Authority. The total number of asylum seekers currently in Israel can vary form 20,000 to 65,000 depending on sources.
We are so incredibly happy to see our friend and adopted uncle Gideon Ben-Ami featured in an article about his amazing work with the poorest and most overlooked people in South Tel Aviv.
Wait until you see him on the big screen now! Screenings to be announced shortly.
REUTERS - Faced with a surge in migration from the Middle East and North Africa, two European countries are exploring the possibility of erecting towering steel security fences along parts of their borders, similar to Israel's barrier with Egypt.
Spotlight on the shades of grey for once! Read and learn about the mixed emotion of the Israeli people towards the African asylum seekers.
"It’s the same as with us. One does something crappy and they accuse all of them,” and he adds: “People who don’t know them like I do think bad things about them, but I am with them a lot. Some of them are good people. Why should they suffer? They are tough customers on price, but it’s hard for them.
“I also don’t see any difference between them and Jews when it comes to shoplifting. Listen, their bad image comes from the news. The people writing in the media are not from here and don’t experience them at all. And if I weren’t from here, I would have said they should be kicked out of here. But there are a lot of very nice people. Six months ago a lot left for Europe, regular customers who came to say goodbye.”
Reminiscent of our shoot in mid-2012...
"Hundreds march in southern Tel Aviv after Supreme Court decision that will lead to release of some 1,200 illegal immigrants and asylum seekers from Holot facility."
-Do Not Send UsSo We Can Become Refugees Again-
From ‘nationals of a hostile state’ to deportees: South Sudanese in Israel.
African Refugee Development Center and Hotline for Migrant Workers- February 2013
October 31st, 2015
Israel’s policy toward African asylum seekers is to pressure them to self-deport or, as the former interior minister Eli Yishai put it, to “make their lives miserable” until they give up and let the government deport them. About 60,000 African asylum seekers have entered Israel since 2005, most of them Muslims from the Darfur region of Sudan, and Orthodox Christians from Eritrea; today that number is closer to 45,000.
The government and some media call them “infiltrators,” a word that for most Israelis evokes Palestinians illegally crossing into Israel to launch attacks, painting them as a threat. A law passed in 2013 requires male African asylum seekers already in Israel to be detained automatically and indefinitely in the open detention center, Holot, in the Negev desert. Detainees are allowed to wander the desert between three obligatory check-ins every day, and they must also remain in Holot overnight. If they miss a check-in, they can be transferred to the nearby prison. Their only alternative is to accept a sum of $3,500 to return to their country of origin, or a third country, usually Uganda or Rwanda, often without proper documentation to stay.