Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Fast Forward

Israel Must Protect African Migrants Who Came As Children: Jewish Agency

African migrants at a demonstration in Israel on January 22 Image by Getty Images

JERUSALEM (JTA) — Israel should grant legal status to over 500 young African migrants, The Jewish Agency board said.

The board called on Interior Minister Arye Deri to grant legal status to the more than 500 young migrants who arrived in Israel several years ago as unaccompanied minors and were integrated into Israeli society through youth villages operated by The Jewish Agency and the Ministry of Education.

“These youngsters have grown up in an Israeli educational environment, speak fluent Hebrew, are imbued with Israeli culture, and are loyal to the State of Israel,” the board wrote. “Therefore, it is right that they be granted legal status.”

The board also called on the Israeli government to ensure that “every migrant has an opportunity to apply for asylum and receive transparent due process in the examination of their application.” It also announced the establishment of a task force to study solutions to the matter that would issue recommendations to the board.

Israel’s Cabinet last month approved a plan and the budget to deport thousands of migrants from Sudan and Eritrea.

The Population and Immigration Authority notified migrants from Sudan and Eritrea that as of Jan. 1, they must return to their own countries or to a third nation, or be sent to jail until they are deported. According to the government plan, migrants who choose to leave by March 31 will receive a payment of $3,500 as well as free airfare and other incentives, according to reports.

For now, deportation notices will not be issued to women, children, families, anyone recognized as a victim of slavery or human trafficking, and those who had requested asylum by the end of 2017 but haven’t been given a response, Haaretz reported.

Some 40,000 Eritreans and Sudanese are living in Israel, including 5,000 children.

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

With your support, we’ll be ready for whatever 2025 brings.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at editorial@forward.com, subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.

Exit mobile version