RAIDS OUTRAGE HUMANITARIAN COMMUNITY AS GOI CRACKS

C O N F I D E N T I A L TEL AVIV 000463 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/27/2018 TAGS: PREF PHUM PGOV IS EG SU ER IV SUBJECT: RAIDS OUTRAGE HUMANITARIAN COMMUNITY AS GOI CRACKS DOWN ON AFRICAN ASYLUM SEEKERS REF: A. TEL AVIV 441 ¶B. 2007 TEL AVIV 2547 Classified By: A/DCM Marc Sievers for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY. On February 24, following extensive Israeli media coverage of the African refugee issue, Prime Minister Olmert ordered relevant government authorities to remove illegal infiltrators who entered Israel via the Egyptian border, if the infiltrators had no legal restrictions on deportation. (Most asylum seekers in Israel register with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and thus are officially protected from deportation prior to their Refugee Status Determination.) On February 25, at one location in the presence of surprised UNHCR officials, Immigration Police seized more than 240 asylum seekers - largely Eritreans and Ivoirians, reportedly including some children - who were temporarily residing in Tel Aviv shelters. Several Knesset members voiced strong opposition to the raids during a February 26 meeting of the Knesset Committee of Foreign Workers. It is unknown at this time whether the GOI intends to keep these asylum seekers in custody if/when their UNHCR registration is confirmed. NGOs are filing court battles to release the asylum seekers, and challenging the police action. END SUMMARY. -------------- -------------- Prime Minister Orders Deportation of "Illegal Infiltrators" -------------- -------------- ¶2. (SBU) On February 24, following a week in which the growing number of African asylum seekers (Reftel A) was featured prominently in the Israeli media, Prime Minister Olmert directed the Interior Ministry, the Public Security Ministry, and the Immigration Police to remove within the week all "illegal infiltrators" who entered Israel via the Egyptian border and who are not legally protected from deportation. (Asylum seekers who register with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) - as the vast majority of asylum seekers in Israel do - are officially protected from deportation prior to their Refugee Status Determination, a process that often takes months due to the current backlog described in Reftel A.) According to the Prime Minister's media advisor, numerous cabinet members, including Defense Minister Barak, Interior Minister Sheetrit, and Public Security Minister Dichter, discussed the issue. Olmert ordered security officials to tighten supervision of the Egyptian border and instructed that "infiltrators" be transferred to detention centers. The Prime Minister also ordered an increase in personnel who question asylum seekers, and instructed Prime Minister's Office (PMO) Director-General Dinur to present a daily progress report and to hold a meeting in approximately three weeks to evaluate progress on the issue. -------------- -------------- Immigration Police Raid Refugee Shelters, Place More than 240 in Detention -------------- -------------- ¶3. (SBU) On February 25, the Immigration Police raided the area around Tel Aviv's old central bus station and took more than 240 asylum seekers into custody, most from Eritrea and Cote d'Ivoire. Human rights organizations charged that police entered three shelters without a warrant. News organizations and a UNHCR representative reported that dozens of Ivoirian asylum seekers were arrested while awaiting a meeting with UNHCR representatives. The Immigration Police denied both charges. NGO Hotline for Migrant Workers (Hotline) said detainees were taken to an Immigration Police office in Holon, where Interior Ministry officials held hearings for about 120, according to Ha'aretz. Hearings for the remaining detainees were expected to be conducted on February 26. Ha'aretz reported that a few detainees with documents showing they were in the advanced stages of receiving UNHCR certification as refugees were released, while the rest were taken to either Ma'asiyashu Prison or Immigration Police facilities in Hadera. -------------- -------------- UNHCR "Furious", Raids Continue, Mass Arrests Ordered? -------------- -------------- ¶4. (C) A UNHCR official told Embassy Refugee Reporting Officer (RRO) they were "furious" about the arrests, which he said were in violation of both the 1951 Refugee Convention and Israeli rules, and that his organization was working to reinforce the "prior agreed arrangement" with the GOI not to arrest registered asylum seekers until their refugee status determination was complete. Hotline noted that the police denied they had entered the shelters, but press photos showed them emerging from the shelters with asylum seekers in custody. According to Hotline, Population Administration Chief Yaakov Ganot (essentially #2 at Interior) said during a meeting with several NGOs and numerous government officials, including Tel Aviv Deputy Mayor Ayal Dayan, that Israel had given status to all refugees (Reftel A) and that all the other asylum seekers were migrant workers. The raids continued on February 26 and 27. Hotline reported that an Israeli volunteer who attempted to deny access to the police at one of the shelters was also arrested. A confidential source told RRO that that the Israel chief of police ordered his officers to arrest 300 asylum seekers per day, "protection papers or not." -------------- -------------- Knesset Members and NGOs Attack Decision, NGOs Take Issue to Court -------------- -------------- ¶5. (SBU) A February 26 meeting of the Knesset Committee on Foreign Workers discussed the handling of asylum requests. Representatives of the PMO, Tel Aviv-Jaffa Municipality, The Local Government Authority, UNHCR, Hotline, and NGO Physicians for Human Rights were among those in attendance. According to Hotline, a larger number of MKs than normal for such meetings were present, several of whom expressed anger at the raids of the previous day. Hotline and the Tel Aviv University Refugee Rights Legal Education Clinic lawyers continued to press the issue of the asylum seekers in court February 27 as part of an ongoing challenge to the "hot return" of 48 African refugees to Egypt on August 19, 2007. (Reftel B) -------------- -------------- As Population of Asylum Seekers Grows, So Does Media Coverage of the Issue -------------- -------------- ¶6. (U) The Prime Minister's announcement and the subsequent raids came on the heels of extensive coverage of the rising tide of African asylum seekers by a number of Israeli media organizations leading into the weekend. A February 21 Jerusalem Post article noted the squalid conditions described in Reftel A, and the reported shooting the previous weekend of an Eritrean woman - and arrest of her two daughters, ages eight and ten - by Egyptian border guards. The article also echoed views found in most of the other reports when it said "These people didn't make the brutal, potentially fatal journey from Africa just to find temporary work ... they're looking for a long-term solution. 'I want asylum,' said John. 'I expect the Israeli government to do something to help me.'" -------------- Next Steps Unclear -------------- ¶7. (C) GOI official policy regarding the arrests remains unclear. It is unknown whether the raids were ordered by the PMO or were an independent decision of the police in response to the Prime Minister's statement. It also remains to be seen whether some or all of the detainees will be released if/when their UNHCR registration is confirmed, all will remain in detention until their final refugee status determination, or if Israeli authorities plan to expedite the determinations and any subsequent deportations. ********************************************* ******************** Visit Embassy Tel Aviv's Classified Website: http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/telaviv You can also access this site through the State Department's Classified SIPRNET website. ********************************************* ******************** JONES