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In pictures: Israel asylum seekers

African asylum seekers stage mass protest outside the Knesset demanding rights.

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The biggest groups of African asylum seekers in Israel come from Sudan and Eritrea.
By Rich Wiles
Published On 9 Jan 2014

Following days of huge protests in Tel Aviv, more than 10,000 African asylum seekers staged a mass protest in the Rose Garden outside the Israeli Knesset in Jerusalem on Wednesday.

Buses brought protesters from Tel Aviv – home to the largest population of African asylum seekers in Israel – to Jerusalem for the demonstration. The demonstraters are calling for a just system for asylum seekers in Israel who are currently facing mass deportation and arrest campaigns. 

There are an estimated 60,000 African asylum seekers currently in Israel. Areas in Tel Aviv, where many of the asylum seekers are based, have faced violent attacks and protests from the Israeli right who are calling for all asylum seekers to be deported immediately.

After fleeing their own countries, asylum seekers have found the Israeli authorities to be in no mood to help their cases.
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The African asylum seekers in Israel are officially referred to as "infiltrators" by the Israeli authorities.
Following legislation passed in December, asylum seekers can be imprisoned for up to one year soon as they arrive in Israel.
Representatives of the protesters had been promised a meeting with members of the Knesset on the day of the protest. During the event, the Speaker of the Knesset barred representatives form entering parliament following a request by Likud MK Miri Regev.
Over the course of the protest in Jerusalem, 90 buses arrived from Tel Aviv carrying asylum seekers to the protest.
Rights advocates say that the estimated 60,000 African asylum seekers in Israel live under constant fear of arrest and deportation.
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Many asylum seekers claim to be in fear for their lives if they are deported back to their home countries.
At a detention centre in the Negev known as Holot, up to 150 asylum seekers have gone on a hunger strike in protest of their treatment.
A member of the Knesset, MK Danny Danon, called asylum seekers "a national plague".
The violence faced by asylum seekers in Tel Aviv has included the firebombing of houses in which they are staying.
The headquarters of UNHCR in Israel stated on Monday that they believe that most of the asylum seekers are eligible for refugee status.
Thousands of miles from their home, Israel(***)s asylum seekers are calling for a just legal system in which they can apply for asylum according to international norms.
During the protest, former Interior Minister, MK Eli Yishai of the Shas party, posted a request to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on his Facebook page suggesting that he should take advantage of the mass gathering of asylum seekers and "put them all on buses and send them to detention facilities".