Channels

Saharonim holding facility
Photo: Ilana Curiel

Israel to add 25,000 holding cells for migrants by 2013

Defense Ministry says all new infiltrators will be sent to one of five holding facilities from now on

The Defense Ministry has announced that 20,000-25,000 holding cells for infiltrators in five separate facilities will be added by the end of the year, after a court ruling Thursday okayed the deportation of 1,500 South Sudanese citizens.

 

The facilities will be placed under the jurisdiction of the Israel Prison Service and Ministry of the Interior.

 

Related stories:

 

Meanwhile, the construction of a fence on the Egyptian border continues at a speed of one kilometer per day. According to the Defense Ministry, 95% of the fence will be completed by October of this year. More than 170 kilometers have already been built so far.
חברי כנסת בסיור במתקן הכליאה סהרונים (ארכיון) (צילום: אילנה קוריאל)

MK Horowitz, Knesset Speaker Rivlin at holding facility (Photo: Ilana Curiel)

 

Devised by Defense Ministry Director Udi Shani in conjunction with the IDF, the plan aims to see all new infiltrators sent directly to holding facilities, where they will spend long periods of times.

 

Three new facilities are set to be built in the Keziot compound and join the Prison Service's Saharonim holding facility and Keziot prison. According to the Defense Ministry's statement, the preparation of water, sewage and electricity infrastructure is at an advanced stage.

 

Construction of the fence is set to be complete by early 2013. More than 100 contractors who won Defense Ministry contracts are working simultaneously along the Egypt border, operating 480 pieces of heavy machinery.

 

In a special meeting on the issue, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu listed steps which he said were meant to "solve the infiltrator problem," including construction of holding facilities and sanctions against employers of infiltrators.

 

He noted that Interior Minister Eli Yishai is preparing the "removal of the infiltrators" and that the internal security minister will aim to arrest criminal infiltrators in the Tel Aviv area.

 

"These means and others will start to reverse the trend and we will begin to solve it. It's a tough problem but we're handing it," the PM said.

 

 

 


פרסום ראשון: 06.07.12, 21:27
 new comment
Warning:
This will delete your current comment