Court delays South Sudan migrants' expulsion

Following petition filed by human rights groups, Jerusalem court issues injunction against deportation of South Sudanese migrants due to security situation in African country

Omri Efraim|Published: 03.29.12 , 19:23

The Jerusalem Magistrates' Court issued an injunction Thursday against the expulsion of migrants from South Sudan before April 15. The injunction followed a petition filed by human rights groups against the Interior Ministry's decision not to renew the migrants' protective status, which expires Sunday.

The State will be asked to address the petition calling to extend the protective status of asylum seekers.

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The petitions, filed by the Organization for Aiding Refugees and Physicians for Human Rights-Israel, among other organizations, claimed that deporting the migrants to South Sudan at this time may put them in harm's way.

Pini Avivi, the Foreign Ministry's deputy director general, sent a letter to the Population and Immigration Authority asking that it delay the migrants' deportation by a few weeks to give the ministry ample time to prepare its recommendations. A Foreign Ministry official was expected to return from South Sudan on Thursday.

The Interior Ministry said it plans to "act in accordance with the government's decision regarding the South Sudanese refugees and return them to their country."

The refugee aid groups said the Foreign Ministry's request "supports the organizations' position, which led to a public struggle against the migrants' expulsion due to the severe deterioration of the humanitarian and security situation in South Sudan in recent months."

Orit Marom of the Organization for Aiding Refugees welcomed the court's decision and said "we were pleased to see that the Foreign Ministry is aware of the difficult reality in South Sudan."