African immigrants are being told to leave the country in 90 days or go to prison. The Population and Immigration Authority called this week on migrants from Sudan and Eritrea to go back home or go to Rwanda or Uganda. Those who leave by the end of March will be given $3,500, along with airfare and other incentives. Those who are still in the country after April face prison. Binyamin Netanyahu the Israeli Prime Minister said, “If we don’t stop their entry, the problem that currently stands at 60,000 could grow to 600,000, and that threatens our existence as a Jewish and democratic state. This phenomenon is very grave and threatens the social fabric of society, our national security and our national identity.” Current estimates put the immigrant population at around 42,000. Thousands of Africans entered Israel along its border with Egypt, fleeing war or persecution. Israel calls them infiltrators, just people looking for jobs and that their presence threaten its Jewish character. Israel resolve is steadfast and according to sources, there is an an international agreement with Rwanda and Uganda which allows Israel to deport any remaining migrants without refugee hearing or their consent, once the 90 days are up.
Similar mass deportations are occurring in other countries. Here in the US, the President has removed the legal status given to the Haitians under Temporary Protected Status (TPS). Rescinding TPS, the Department of Homeland Security has given the group 18 months to leave the country. Over 60,000 are affected by the move. Legislation for DACA has also been held up in the US and lawmaker fear if action is not taken before the end of January, up to 200,000 will lose their protected status and be subject to immediate deportation. Elsewhere tens of thousands of vulnerable people who risk everything to get to Libya’s coast and then across the Mediterranean into Europe are being turned back because of Europe’s immigration policies. Israel has admitted for the first time that it has been giving Ethiopian Jewish immigrants birth-control injections, often without their knowledge or consent. Nearly 100,000 Ethiopian Jews have moved to Israel under the Law of Return since the 1980s, but their Jewishness has been questioned. Sharona Eliahu Chai, a lawyer for the Association of Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI), said “Findings from investigations into the use of Depo Provera are extremely worrisome, raising concerns of harmful health policies with racist implications in violation of medical ethics.” Ethiopian Jews are Jews whose community developed and lived for centuries in the Tigray Regions of Ethiopia. Most of these peoples have emigrated to Israel since the late 20th century. The Law of Return grants all Jews the right to immigrate to Israel and almost automatic Israeli citizenship upon arrival in Israel. In the 1970s the Law of Return was expanded to grant the same rights to the spouse of a Jew, the children of a Jew and their spouses, and the grandchildren of a Jew and their spouses, provided that the Jew did not practice a religion other than Judaism willingly. Opponents of the mass deportations in Israel say that because of this law, any immigrant marrying an Ethiopian Jew is by law a citizen of Israel and the deportations are a way to maintain “our national identity.”
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