New protocol says youth infiltrators won't be jailed
Attorney general authorizes protocol by which infiltrators between ages of 12 and 14 will be placed in educational program, those between the ages 14 and 16 will be held in detention until framework is found for them
Just as Interior Minister Eli Yishai is planning to deport most of the foreign workers' children from Israel, Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein drafted a new protocol regarding how infiltrators below the age of 18 entering Israel will be dealt with. Until now, they have been routinely sent to jail.
Ynet learned that the attorney general ruled that infiltrators under 14 years old will not be placed in detention. In addition, infiltrators between the ages of 12 and 14 will be placed in an educational framework offered by the welfare or education ministries a short time after their entry into the country. Until now, such children were likely to remain in detention for up to six months.
In so doing, the attorney general has adopted the recommendations made by the inter-ministerial committee on the matter.
The new protocol also stipulates that an infiltrator below the age of 16 will not be held in a detention cell beyond the time needed to perform medical examinations and to find a suitable educational or treatment program for him or her. The estimated length of time is about two months.
The same goes for infiltrators between the ages of 16 to 18. However, in unusual cases, an detention alternative or other treatment program will be found in accordance with the infiltrator's needs.
The Education Ministry has already announced that it has the capacity to house 100 infiltrators who arrived in Israel unaccompanied by an adult in its boarding schools at any give time.
In any case, no infiltrator will be held in custody for more than 60 days.
Committee of the Rights of the Child Chairman Danny Danon said to Ynet, "I am glad the State authorities understood that a child has no nationality and that treatment of any child no matter who he is must be equal.
"I am sorrowed by the fact that the dignity of the children who underwent atrocities in their home country has been trampled. The country of the Jewish people has the moral responsibility to treat them fairly. There must not be any difference in the treatment of an Eritrean child and an Israeli child. They are no in jail for a crime, but because of a faulty power system."
Within the last year, the Committee of the Rights of the Child has held three hearings on the matter. In the most recent, the inter-ministerial committee announced that a protocol would be drafted by the end of June. After an extension of three weeks, the new protocol was received on Wednesday. The committee noted that it needs additional budget for the protocol to be put into action.
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