The African refugees in Israel should be rounded up in prisons or holding facilities and then deported from the country, Interior Minister Eli Yishai (Shas) said in a radio interview on Wednesday morning. “They should be put into holding cells or jails,” he said, “and then given a grant and sent back” to their countries of origin. His remarks came the morning after police arrested four Eritrean and Sudanese men on suspicion of raping a woman in south Tel Aviv. South Tel Aviv has a high concentration of Africans, most of whom are refugees.
MK Dov Khenin (Hadash) condemned Yishai’s comments, calling them incitement and racism – not befitting a democracy. Putting illegal entrants in jail would be undemocratic, said Khenin. “I was very sorry to hear what the Minister of the Interior said… We need to deal harshly with a few criminals, but we also need to provide solutions for the majority those who aren’t criminals,” he said.
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Refugees hold Matzoth (unleavened bread) during an event marking the Jewish holiday of Passover in Levinsky Park in south Tel Aviv, April 4. 2012 (Photo: Activestills)