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High Court rules closure of detention facility for African migrants
Israel’s High Court of Justice yesterday struck down a Knesset law which had allowed the state to detain illegal African migrants in a detention facility for up to a year without trial. It also ordered the closure of another facility entirely within 90 days.
It is estimated that more than 50,000 African migrants have entered Israel illegally since 2006 via the country’s border with Egypt, although the flow of has been brought to an almost total halt with the recent completion of a new border fence. Most have arrived from Eritrea or Sudan and many claim to be fleeing persecution although the Israeli government claims that most are economic migrants. However, the vast majority have not had their status determined and instead have temporary permits.
An amendment to the Law for Prevention of Infiltration permitted the state to detain those who entered the country illegally for up to a year without trial. Yesterday’s ruling concluded that holding a person “without their having the ability to do anything to advance their release, constitutes a severe violation of their rights.” A separate ruling mandated that the government close the Holot open holding facility in the remote southern Negev within three months. Although designated as an “open” facility, detainees are required to attend a head count three times daily. The ruling concluded that such regulations “turn the centre, in practice, into a facility similar in essence to a closed facility.” There are an estimated 2,200 migrants currently held in Holot.
The panel said that it had taken into account the distress of local residents in south Tel Aviv, where the majority of African migrants live. Nonetheless, the ruling was sharply criticised by several right-wing politicians including Interior Minister Gideon Saar who called it “a mistake that leaves Israel without the tools to handle illegal infiltration.” However, the decision was praised by left-wing figures including Labour MK Shelly Yachimovich who said that the Holot facility is inappropriate for an enlightened country.