{"id":6821,"date":"2013-06-10T14:22:16","date_gmt":"2013-06-10T12:22:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/law.acri.org.il\/en\/?p=6821"},"modified":"2013-06-10T14:32:26","modified_gmt":"2013-06-10T12:32:26","slug":"deal-on-asylum-seekers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/law.acri.org.il\/en\/2013\/06\/10\/deal-on-asylum-seekers\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Deal’ on asylum seekers is smokescreen, say petitioners"},"content":{"rendered":"

State submits\u00a0affidavit\u00a0following High Court order to provide information on alleged arrangement with a foreign country to resettle asylum seekers currently in Israel<\/em><\/p>\n

The state yesterday (June 9, 2013) complied with an order of the High Court of Justice to provide additional information about an alleged arrangement with a foreign country to resettle asylum seekers currently in Israel.\u00a0 The state was ordered to provide this information after last week’s hearing<\/a> on a petition <\/a>to overturn the Law to Prevent Infiltration, during which the State Attorney attempted to portray the automatic detention of illegal immigrants as a stopgap measure that will be alleviated by a forthcoming arrangement with an undisclosed third country.<\/p>\n

The State’s response <\/a>was based on an affidavit submitted by\u00a0Hagai Hadas<\/strong>, the Prime Minister’s special envoy for the resettlement of asylum seekers.<\/p>\n

Attorney Yonatan Berman<\/strong>\u00a0of the\u00a0Clinic for Migrants\u2019 Rights at the Academic Center of Law and Business in Ramat Gan<\/strong>, who represented the petitioners \u2013 seven human rights organizations and five Eritrean asylum seekers, responded:<\/p>\n

“Just last week the State Attorney declared before the High Court that an ‘agreement’ with a third country to absorb the asylum seekers currently being held under the Law to Prevent Infiltration had been reached. Now, after the state has been required to provide additional details, it is apparent that the State Attorney’s remarks were, to put it lightly, imprecise.<\/p>\n

“The formal ‘agreement’ announced confidently in the courtroom turns out to be an abstract general understanding.\u00a0 Hadas’ affidavit indicates that what was referred to as an agreement is in fact a multi-year program, and that it is unclear when, if at all, this program will be put into practice, or to whom it will apply.<\/p>\n

“This is nothing more than a smokescreen designed to sanction the prolonged detention of asylum seekers in Israel.”<\/p>\n

Further information<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n