Somehow or other, for reasons that escape me entirely, this
story has been completely overlooked. What are blogs good for if not to bring
such stories to your attention.
In Israel, the government of Prime Minister Netanyahu is
offering African refugees a one-way ticket out of the country. It has offered an
enticing bounty of $3,500 to those who leave voluntarily and will be cutting
subsidies and then deporting those who do not. Does this remind you of anyone else’s
immigration policy?
Zero Hedge has the story (via Maggie’s Farm):
Netanyahu
is staging a crackdown on illegal immigration – offering refugees from Sudan,
Eritrea and other African countries who illegally entered Israel via Egypt a
relatively generous sum to relocate back to their home countries, or to move to
a designated third-party country that has agreed to take in the migrants.
The
government believes there are 38,000 such immigrants in the country. And while
many of the migrants have applied for refugee status – claiming to have fled
war and persecution - instead
of processing their applications, the ruling party instead chooses to classify
them as economic migrants with relatively few rights.
Rwanda
and Uganda are two countries that have offered to accept the Israeli migrants.
Netanyahu’s
offer of $3,500 and a plane ticket is good through March, at which point the
government will begin a crackdown on illegal migrant communities that could
result in large numbers of migrants being deported or imprisoned, according
to Reuters.
Just
like in the US and parts of Europe, many of the migrants live in slums and work
in low-paying jobs. They’re vulnerable to crime because they lack access to the
country’s banking system.
Reuters reports more on the story:
"We
have expelled about 20,000 and now the mission is to get the rest out,"
Netanyahu said.
An
immigration official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said there are some
38,000 migrants living illegally in Israel, and some 1,420 are being held in
two detention centres. "Beyond the end of March, those who leave
voluntarily will receive a significantly smaller payment that will shrink even
more with time, and enforcement measures will begin," the official said,
referring to incarceration.
Some
have lived for years in Israel and work in low-paying jobs that many Israelis
shun. Israel has granted asylum to fewer than one percent of those who have
applied and has a years-long backlog of applicants.
It's good to stay up to date on the world news.
Sounds reasonable to me. Israel has a very specific origin story and purported reason for existence so an uncontrolled flood of non-jewish illegal aliens allowed to remain in the country is a real problem. This should not be different for any country which has the right to create an orderly immigration process of their preference and design. Or none at all.
ReplyDeleteI strongly suspect that the "jobs (insert locals) won't do" could be effectively addressed by a close look at prevailing welfare programs. There are few legitimate jobs able bodied people won't do if they are sufficiently motivated.
The saddest aspect of all this is that once again Israeli Jews demonstrate the sachel so sadly missing among our American brothers and sisters.
ReplyDeleteAmen...
ReplyDelete