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African refugees in TA
Photo: Tani Goldstein

Tel Aviv unit cracks down on illegal immigrants

New unit incurs rage among city council opposition members; unit head says 'they should be thankful someone is enforcing law'

A new unit charged with tracking down illegal residents of Tel Aviv was evaluated by the Tel-Aviv Jaffa Municipal Council Monday. "What is being done in Tel-Aviv is simply a manhunt," Councilwoman Yael Ben Yefet told Ynet.

 

Ben Yefet, of the City For All faction, demands that the city council condemn police activity on the issue, thus providing the foreign workers' organizations with public support.

 

The councilwoman said she objects to the apprehending of illegal refugees, infiltrators, and foreign workers by police in operations held mainly in the city's southern neighborhoods. She claims this activity resembles a "manhunt" as the unit members ambush the workers, catch them and immediately load them on buses headed for correction facilities.

 

Ben Yefet and her colleagues hope that a municipal condemnation will enable them to appear in a special Knesset discussion on child welfare this Wednesday. "Even if the State has decided to cut down on foreign workers in Israel, there is still a (proper) way to do it", she claimed.

 

Ben Yefet added that "studies on people who returned to their countries penniless have shown that they simply could not deal with reality, and some even commit suicide".

 

harassing messages

Members of the unit claim the conflict has gone so far as to incur the wrath of human rights activists, who they say have been harassing them with text messages, and that they intend to file a police complaint. 

 

Tziky Sela, the unit manager, said in response to Ben Yefet's criticism, "Council members should be glad there's a unit enforcing the admission law into Israel. It is unthinkable that the Tel-Aviv city council attack public employees. This is not a manhunt, we operate according to the law and a government decision with determination, honor and sensitivity."

 

He added, "It isn't easy work, but we lead the Israeli people in addressing the illegal immigrants problem".

 

Sela also described their modus operandi: "Unit men approach whoever is suspected of staying in the country illegally and ask them for identification. If it indeed turns out to be the case they are then detained and called for interrogation, where they withstand a lengthy hearing checking their status."

 

He added, "In case the person is found to be staying in the country illegally he is then transferred to a correction facility and within 72 hours stands trial in a custody court establishing his status. The final decision is given by the borders control supervisor from the Ministry of the Interior".

 

 


פרסום ראשון: 07.06.09, 22:05
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