Asylum seekers in Tel Aviv. The fence cannot carry the burden on its own
Photo: Motti Kimchi
African infiltrators are heading back to Israel
Op-ed: Thousands of potential infiltrators are impatiently waiting for the High Court to block the amendment to the 'infiltrator law' again, in order to turn the recent drizzle into a tsunami.
The separation fence in the south stopped the huge infiltration wave. That didn’t make the migrants disappear. Thousands arrive in Europe every week, and there too, officials are deliberating and weighing options.
In the past few months, the situation has only gotten worse. Some of the shores of Libya, which have turned into a transit point from Africa to Europe, have been captured by an organization affiliated with the Islamic State. This worsens the situation because there is a fear of an infiltration of terrorists disguised as refugees. So the infiltrators are unwanted, and the transition difficulties are growing.
The sea was supposed to be a natural obstacle, but it no longer deters anyone. Hundreds of thousands of young people are searching for any route, despite the reasonable fear of drowning in the sea.
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How does this affect Israel? After a long period in which the border was completely sealed, something has been changing in the past few months. Four infiltrators succeeded in crossing the border in February, 11 in April, and 26 in May. These are still small numbers, but the infiltration is being resumed. Above the fence, bellow the fence, maybe even through a tunnel or two.
The Holot detention facility. Deterrence against potential infiltrators (Photo: Reuters)
The fence is an important measure for stopping the infiltration, but whoever thought it could carry the burden on its own was wrong. With a little pressure to stop the immigration to Europe, the scouters have already hit the road to resume the route to Israel. If dozens succeed, hundreds will succeed too. And if hundreds succeed, thousands will succeed too. We have already been in this situation. It began bit by bit, no one was fazed by it, and it reached thousands a month.
In addition to the fence, the Holot detention facility deters the potential infiltrators as well. Human rights organizations are right about the facility. Being there is unpleasant. The "infiltrator law" was already blocked once, and blocked again after an amendment, and a petition to block it was filed again following another amendment. The High Court judges have been struggling with the issue for months, and there is no decision yet. The residents of southern Tel Aviv are afraid it will be blocked again.
We may have forgotten, but not only infiltrators – some of them refugees – have human rights. Israel's citizens have rights too. And when they carry the burden on their own, they suffer greatly. The Holot facility was not their pride and joy. But the facility, in addition to the fence, at least promised them a chance to stop the damage, and maybe even a hope for change. Because the facility equals deterrence. The facility is mainly for new infiltrators. When they know that they will not arrive on an express service at the absorption camp in Tel Aviv's central bus station, but at a detention facility in the desert, Israel's attractiveness drops remarkably.
There are situations in which a decision must be made between bad and worse. The Holot facility is a bad solution. The human rights organization, it must be reiterated again and again, are raising truthful claims. The thing is that without the Holot facility the situation would become much worse. The infiltration would be resumed and intensified.
There are other humane solutions concerning the asylum seekers, which combine the very important need to maintain a human character and the very important need to maintain human dignity and the basic rights of those who are paying the price of the mass immigration. They must be allowed to work, while tens of percentage points from their salary should be collected for a foundation which will be available to them on the day they leave Israel. That way, they will be able to live in dignity and will have an incentive to leave of their own free will. But even such a solution cannot give up on the Holot facility, which serves as deterrence against those who want to arrive.
In south Tel Aviv, in the Interior and Justice ministries and in the rights organizations, people are waiting for the High Court's decision. But not only there. Thousands of potential infiltrators are also waiting for a decision. They already know that they won't be stopped by the fence. They are impatiently waiting for the amendment to the law to be blocked again, in order to turn the drizzle into a tsunami.
