PM: Refugees threatening Israelis' jobs
Netanyahu says Israel must create 'humane response' for African infiltrators 'until they are removed from the country'. Detention facilities exist in European countries as well, he claims
The cabinet on Sunday apppointed a committee to determine criteria for the estbalishment of an "open detention center" for infiltrators who entered Israel illegally through Egypt. The government stated that the committee would complete its work within 60 days and that the facility would be built within six months.
Ministers Benny Begin (Likud), Avishay Braverman (Labor) and Yitzhak Ahronovitch (Yisrael Beiteinu) voted against the decision. The latter said, "I don't know what an open facility means,' adding that the government should invest resources in enforcement, legislation and the immediate construction of a barrier on the Israel-Egypt border. He also suggested stationing additional Border Guard officers on the borderline.
He added, however, that "we have no plans to arrest war refugees."
Addressing the necessity of the prison, which he defined as a facility, the prime minister said that "we must create a humane response of lodging, food and nursing services until the infiltrators are removed from the country. People have been talking for years about stopping the wave of illegal infiltrators. Now we are no longer talking – this government, as opposed to previous ones, is doing."
Netanyahu said the State would discuss imposing large fines on employers hiring illegal workers. He said the suggested detention facility was similar to facilities in Holland, Italy and Spain.
The refugees will stay in the facility temporarily "and will be returned to their homelands and interim countries from there," he said. He added that "this is a combined national plan which will change the direction of the mass entry."
'0.01% of infiltrators are refugees'
Other ministers addressed the matter during the meeting. Interior Minister Eli Yishai, slammed those defending the infiltrators. "All those people who are looking for headlines and trying to beautify things should know that in 10 years a state commission of inquiry will have to investigate how we lost the Jewish majority in Israel."
According to Yishai, the number of refugees will grow if the State fails to handle the issue.
"We are talking about tens of thousands of infiltrators, in growing numbers, which will reach a million. They will change the State's face as a Jewish state. These are not refugees. There is an office which handles the refugees. Only 0.01% of the infiltrators are refugees.
"We must stop people who have nothing to do here, clarify that there is no work here and sent them all back to where they came from. Today we have the support of many of the government members and of the prime minister to send a clear message to those who want to come to Israel that they have nothing to come here for," the minister said.
He called on the government to complete the construction of the facility as quickly as possible.
Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz said during the meeting that "if Israel wants to maintain its character as a Jewish Zionist country, it must stop the infiltration from Africa." He added that two ways must be taken: "Making it difficult to cross the border, while building a fence, and becoming less attractive.
"We must show that there is no reason to cross the border here, because is no way to make a living. We learn from the experience of other countries in Europe, who built similar detention facilities and prevented the illegal immigration. If someone manages to cross the border and gets a reward in the form of livelihood – no fence will help. We must say that there is no prize on the other side. You cross the border? You reach the facility."
The facility, which will is to be built within six months from the decision's approval, is aimed at providing the infiltrators with all their basic needs – lodging, food and health services. It will be operated by the Israel Prison Service and will be subject to the Defense Ministry.
"The open center will not limit the infiltrators' movement," the proposal states, although some restrictions are expected to be imposed on them.
Meanwhile, Israel will continue building a fence on the Egypt border, act against Israeli employers and locate countries where the infiltrators could be sent too if it turns out that they are not refugees and that their deportation will not put their life in danger.
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