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Israel arrests African migrants

Israeli court says the lives of 1,500 South Sudanese is no longer at risk in their homeland, enabling mass expulsions.

A migrant from southern Sudan is handcuffed as he sits in an Israeli immigration and population department car after being arrested in Tel Aviv.
Published On 13 Jun 2012

Israel said it had started rounding up African migrants in the first stage of a controversial “emergency plan” to deport thousands deemed a threat to the Jewish character of the state.

The house raids came after an Israeli court judged that the lives of an estimated 1,500 South Sudanese were no longer at risk in their homeland, clearing the way for their mass expulsion.

Official figures show there are 60,000 Africans living in Israel illegally, most of whom live in run-down neighbourhoods of south Tel Aviv.

This figure represents less than one per cent of Israel’s total population.

The migrants sit in a waiting room after being arrested in Holon near Tel Aviv.
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A migrant from southern Sudan is arrested by israel immigration and population department officers in Tel Aviv.
Israeli authorities rounded up dozens of African migrants slated for deportation, as the government weighs tough penalties against Israelis who help illegal aliens.
Rejecting a petition by human rights groups that had delayed the Interior Ministry(***)s April 1 deportation order, Jerusalem District Court ruled the state was not obligated to extend de facto asylum to the estimated 1,500 migrants from South Sudan.
South Sudanese refugee Samuel Akue sits next to suitcases he purchased in a market in south Tel Aviv in preparation for his deportation from Israel.
An Israeli man, calling on Netanyahu to approve a bill in parliament that would legalise dwellings that have been built on land owned by individual Palestinians, carries a placard that reads: "Netanyahu, we are not Sudanese".
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Sudanese protesters hold signs during a demonstration in Tel Aviv against the deportation of migrants from South Sudan.
A Sudanese man shout slogans during a demonstration in Tel Aviv against the deportation of migrants from South Sudan.
Children cross the street as residents of south Tel Aviv carry Israeli flags during a protest against African migrants living in their neighbourhoods.