Falash Mura: Our children are starving
Members of 20,000 strong community frustrated with government delay in carrying out decision to bring 600 immigrants to Israel every month. Activist slams government's failure to implement earlier decision
Some one thousand Falash Mura Ethiopians, furious with the delay in their immigration to Israel, are continuing their hunger strike in Ethiopia.
"We can't stand these conditions anymore. Our children are starving to death. The Israeli government promised to bring 600 people a month, but hasn't done so," said Lakitch Sabebo, one of the hunger strikers.
Falash Mura stage hunger strike (Video: Reuters)
Around 100,000 Ethiopian Jews currently live in Israel. However, members of Ethiopia's 20,000-strong Falash Mura community, who have not yet been brought to Israel, say they were forced to convert Christianity to escape persecution.
Members of the community in Ethiopia are frustrated with the eight month delay in their immigration to Israel, and have launched a hunger strike of a at least 72 hours. The strike was launched in the Adis Abba Falash Mura camp two days ago.
Within the camp, several signs have been placed, reading, "End the suffering, let us return home." Those behind the strike say their aim is cause Israeli authorities to speed up the immigration process.
The Ministry of Immigration has already prepared a program to absorb the Falash Mura, but is awaiting a state budget to back the scheme. An Immigration and Absorption Ministry official said that "the ministry is prepared for a doubling of immigration, and has submitted a request for a budget to the Ministry of Finance."
Yossi Dasa, a lawyer who heads a group that provides assisstance to Ethiopian immigrants, has criticized the government for its performance on immigration from the African country.
"The conduct of the government is really amazing, it is acting like a banana republic. They are not able to implement a decision they took in January – what is so hard about implementing it? In January a decision was taken that 600 immigrants would arrive from Ethiopia every months. However, up to now they hardly brought 300 immigrants. It must be understood that these people are suffering daily and are dying of hunger, but this government doesn't care," said Dasa.
"Those that have gone on a hunger strike are using the last tool of desperation. But nobody cares about them. Everyone knows that when the government wants to do something, nothing can stop it," he said.
"What's more painful is when officials arrive at various countries with Jewish populations in them and beg them to move to Israel, while in Adis Ababa, people are starving to death and waiting for years for Israel to help them immigrate. In both cases they are Jews, without any difference other than skin color,"
"It's not right, what the state is doing to them, and no one should put this down to a budget problem. Diaspora Jews have already said they would raise USD 100 million to help absorb the immigrants in Israel, the government only has to bring them," Dasa added.
