400 foreign workers' children to be deported, 800 to remain in Israel.
By JPOST.COM STAFFmigrant workers children 311(photo credit: Mya Guarnieri)
The Israeli Children organization - a group of Israeli citizens and foreign workers advocating against the expulsion of foreign workers' children from Israel - released a statement on Sunday praising the government's decision to allow 800 foreign workers' children to remain in the country."After an intense year-long struggle, we have proven that the public has the power to influence and change [the process]. We welcome the fact that the government ministers understand that Israeli children are entitled to legal status in their home, Israel," said the group.RELATED:Report: 46% of foreign workers here illegalyAharonovitch warns of influx of illegal African migrantsThe group's statement went to protest the planned deportation of 400 foreign workers' children under the criteria adopted by the government. "Providing legal status to those [children] in their birthplace and where they grew up will only strengthen [Israel] as enlightened and moral state," said the statement.The Prime Minister's Office Sunday provided media with the five criteria by which foreign workers' children will be permitted to remain in Israel.The criteria, determined by the inter-ministerial committee that examined the issue were: the child in question had studies in the Israeli educational system, including kindergarten, in the 2009-2010 academic year, the child was registered in an Israeli school for the 2010-2011 academic year, the child had lived in Israel for at least five years continuously, and was either born in Israel or had entered the country before his 13th birthday, the child speaks Hebrew and the child's parents had entered Israel under a legal visa or work permit.The Interior Ministry will be enabled to grant temporary residence visas to the parents and siblings of the children remaining in Israel under these criteria if they have lived with the child in a joint household since their birth or entry into Israel and were living with them on the date the government reached its decision. Barring any new developments prejudicing their status, the child's family's permits will be renewed annually until their child turns 21, at which point the other family members may request permanent resident status.The children and foreign workers families who meet these conditions will be allotted 21 days to submit their applications from the date the government's decision is published in daily newspapers across the nation. Applications may be extended by a clerk for another 21 days if all principal documents have been submitted within the initial time-frame.'Issue represents clash between Zionist, humanitarian values''The government approved the conclusions of the inter-ministerial committee tasked with deciding the fate of 1,200 children of foreign workers in Israel.The decision means that 400 foreign workers' children will be deported and 800 will stay in Israel.
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu described the government's decision as a fair and balanced response to a very sensitive problem."On the one hand, this problem is a humanitarian problem. We all feel and understand the hearts of children. But on the other hand, there are Zionist considerations and ensuring the Jewish character of the State of Israel. The problem is that these two components clash," Netanyahu said in his remarks to the cabinet.He continued, "We are witnessing a great and increasing illegal migration, mainly via the open southern border, from Africa, of tens of thousands of illegal labor migrants. There are those who say that there have been close to 500,000 migrants, and perhaps close to 1,000,000, in the past decade. This is a tangible threat to the Jewish and democratic character of the State of Israel; therefore, we will make a decision that is balanced between the desire to take these children into our hearts and the desire not to create an incentive for continued illegal migration that could flood the foundation of the Zionist state."
