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Prohibition on Refugees and Asylum Seekers Transferring Money Overseas
Continuity Motion for the Draft Bill to Prevent Infiltration Ministerial Committee on Legislative Affairs Sunday 28 April 2013 | Continuity Motion
ACRI’s Position: The draft bill attempts to place excessive and unreasonable limits on how asylum seekers use their hard-earned money in Israel. This is the negation of a fundamental individual right to use one’s private property as one sees fit.
There is a concern that the consequence of this inhumane piece of legislation will not be the prevention the transfer of funds overseas, but rather foster the development of a predatory black market that will manage illegal international money transfers for exorbitant fees and result in the theft of asylum seekers’ salaries by profiteers. Equally worrying is that the legislation will encourage the kidnapping, torture, rape, organ harvesting, human trafficking and murder that is occurring in the Sinai region by members of the underground engaged in this industry. Asylum seekers have been known to use their salaries to pay for their relatives to be released from torture camps overseas. Whether the legislation is passed or not, this conduct will not stop. The only thing that will change is that money transfers will become more complex, the amounts demanded will rise, and pressure from human traffickers in the Sinai will increase. Victims of kidnappings in the Sinai will pay with their blood, and in some cases their lives.
This draft bill passed its first reading in the previous Knesset, and on April 21, the Ministerial Committee on Legislative Affairs will begin the process of continuity to enable this bill to be legislated through the 19th Knesset.
The Refugees’ Rights Forum, of which ACRI is a member, published a position paper in 2012 on the issue of African asylum seekers who arrive in Israel via the Sinai Desert. |
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An end to Discrimination Against Women in the Public Sector
Penal Code amendment prohibiting the exclusion of women from the public sphere 2013. Ministerial Committee on Legislative Affairs Sunday 21 April 2013 | Determining Government Position
ACRI’s Position: This proposed amendment was raised by MK Isaac Herzog (Labor) in an attempt to turn discrimination against women into a criminal offense. The draft bill imposes a hefty punishment of five years imprisonment or a fine of NIS 300,000 on those who directly discriminate or order discrimination against women in the public sphere. In the past year, the Israeli public was shocked by the number of instances of women being discriminated against or physically and verbally abused. This has occurred against a background of religious extremism. Although extraordinary instances raised the issue of discrimination against women in the public sphere to the surface, the truth is that these types of acts have been continuing unhindered already for many years.
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National Housing Committees Law
Extending the validity of the Law for Planning and Building Processes for Accelerated Residential Construction 2012 Internal Affairs Committee and the Finance Committee Monday 29 April 2013 | Joint Committee Discussion
ACRI’s Position: The Coalition for Affordable Housing , of which ACRI is a member, opposes the extension of this law without conducting an examination as to whether the law is achieving its purposes. The coalition stresses that up until now the law has emphatically failed to realize its social objective of promoting affordable housing and that the government has ignored the instructions of the law and made it irrelevant.
The objective of providing housing solutions to residents from a range of socio-economic backgrounds is the central intent of the law. In contrast to this, the state has completely disregarded its own authority to provide affordable residential rental options. Out of more than 7,000 apartments released by the National Housing Committees, not a single apartment has been earmarked for affordable rental housing. The conduct of the National Housing Committees clearly indicates that all of their energy is being directed towards increasing the supply of housing, and nothing else.
The Coalition released a report in January 2013 on possibilities in the National Housing Committees Law for providing a solution to the housing crisis in Israel and integrating affordable housing into the planned housing supply. |
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Harming the Basic Rights of Prisoners
Draft Bill on Procedural Criminal Law (Detainees Suspected of Security Offences) Extending the Law’s Validity – 2013. Constitution, Law and Justice Committee Monday 29 April 2013 | Preparation for Bill’s Second and Third Reading
ACRI’s Position: This bill seeks the legal authority to extend this temporary government order by one year and eight months (until December 31, 2014). The provision in question allows security related detainees to be held for up to 96 hours in certain circumstances without judicial oversight, and permission to extend a detainee’s imprisonment in absentia (held without judicial approval or authority) under other conditions. This temporary order violates the fundamental rights of suspects in criminal proceedings: the right to liberty, the right to be present during judicial hearings into the matter and the right to information on decision taken with regards to his/her case. As a result of this, the legal guarantees of due process are denied. The temporary order does not guarantee that a supervised investigation or a fair arrest will take place, nor the avoidance of the unfair conviction of innocent people.
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The Right to Water at an Affordable Price
Discussion on Water Tariffs – Following State Comptroller Report State Control Committee Monday 6 May 2013 | Committee Discussion
ACRI’s Position: On October 17, 2012, the State Comptroller published a report with regards to institutional failures in the levying of water tariffs. The report included criticism of the process of determining the minimum tariff rate, the industrial and agricultural subsidies granted at the expense of private consumers and the lack of order in providing discounts or increasing the cover given to vulnerable consumers.
On numerous occasions ACRI has initiated contact with the Water Authority, as well as members of the previous Knesset, to warn that despite water being a fundamental right, there are many who are unable to meet the exorbitant water rates. Thousands of people have found themselves in an impossible tangle of interest payments, fines and have had their water disconnected. Even the Water Law (Amendments – Discounts to Eligible Populations) 2012, that sought to enable price discounts for current recipients of welfare assistance, (i.e. the elderly, people with special needs, etc.) was rejected by the Ministerial Committee for Legislative Affairs in the previous Knesset. The proposal was drafted by ACRI and supported by members of the Knesset from across the political spectrum. ACRI hopes that the new government will make real changes in the water market, particularly in finding solutions for those in Israel who are unable to afford to pay for the basic product of water.
For more information on ACRI’s petition to prevent water corporations from disconnecting poor families from the water supply, click here. |
