Since joining ACRI in 2000, Attorney Michal Pinchuk has worked tenaciously in the legal arena to safeguard the rights of migrant workers and their children. In the following interview, Ms. Pinchuk describes the problems confronted by children of migrant workers who live under the threat of deportation.
Q: Could you give us a general overview of the problem faced by children of migrant workers?
A: The problem is that these children and their families have no formal residency status, and are therefore exposed to the threat of expulsion at any time, even though they have lived in Israel for many years and it clearly represents the cultural center of their lives. In many instances the children have no connection with their country of origin, and in some cases do not even speak the language of that country.
Q: What is the impact of this tenuous status on their daily lives?
A: As I mentioned before, these children have to live with the uncertainty and fear of expulsion which can happen at any moment, and although they do attend school (according to the Compulsory Education Law, every child residing in Israel is obligated to attend school), and are covered by a comprehensive health insurance, as a result of a special arrangement with Kupat Holim Meuhedet [an Israeli health insurance fund] that was secured by ACRI, Physicians for Human Rights, and a coalition of social change organizations, they are still ineligible for all other social benefits and cannot take anything related to their future for granted. The fact that they have no formal status impacts on every aspect of their daily lives, and even the most basic civic action is complicated. For example, registering for school matriculation exams, which is an automatic and well-oiled procedure for Israeli children, is complicated and fraught with anxiety when it comes to children with no registered status.
Q: What is the government doing to address this issue?
A: A recent government decision stipulates four conditions for the granting of permanent residency status to children of migrant workers. The decision requires that: 1) the child be born in Israel; 2) that his/her parents entered the country legally before his/her birth; 3) that the child is ten years old or older; and 4) that the child speaks Hebrew and either attends school in Israel or has completed his/her studies. Although it is extremely difficult to estimate the number of children in this position who are residing in the country, the following are realistic estimates of the scale of the problem. According to the Mesila: Aid and Information Center for the Foreign Community organization, there are, in total, approximately 1,300 children residing in Israel between the ages 0 to 18 years old, of which only 400-500 (according to ACRI’s estimation) comply with the aforementioned criteria. This leaves some 800 children with no formal status.
Q: What is ACRI doing to address this issue?
A: The fate of some of these children, to a large extent, depends upon the outcome of the petition submitted by ACRI in August 2005, which calls for the court to order the cancellation of the condition which demands that the child be born in Israel, and the condition which determines that Israeli residency status will only be granted to a child whose parents entered the country legally before his/her birth. If the petition is successful then an additional 200 children (approximately) who comply with the petition’s specifications will be granted formal status; if it is not successful, these children will face detention followed by expulsion. With regard to the remaining children, it is our opinion that a solution must be found for some of these children other than expulsion, and that the age of eligibility should be reduced to 7-8 years old thus making a significant number of additional children eligible for formal status. One statistic that is precise is that so far only 120 residency requests by children who comply with the aforementioned criteria have been submitted, far less than those estimated to be eligible.
In response to our petition, the children have been granted a temporary reprieve following the court`s issuance of an interim injunction prohibiting the expulsion of the children and their close families until the court decides otherwise. The injunction applies to children who do not comply with the conditions stipulated by the government as the basic criteria for formal residency status: that the child was born in Israel and that his/her parents entered the country legally. However, the families must submit their residency request no later than the end of March 2006 and the children must be ten years old at the time of submission. Despite the injunction, which provides a temporary solution, the families` ultimate fate still hangs in the balance and there are already reports that the immigration authorities are making preparations to detain the children and their families; up to now the state has not detained any children other than those who have been abandoned by their families.
Q: What about the claim made by Israeli officials that any change in official state policy would result in a flood of residency requests?
A: The existing situation, which has resulted in children spending so many years in Israel, is the fault of the government, which has ignored the issue for so many years. The chance that such a community – in which children are born and/or raised in Israel for many years – will recur, is almost non-existent. The immigration authorities are currently so vigilant and the terms of entry so stringent, that such a community stands almost no chance of developing again. The fact that this is an isolated problem places the onus clearly on the state to take responsibility and find a humanitarian solution. One can only imagine the anxiety experienced by these children whose future hangs precariously in the balance.
last updated : 21/12/05
