TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday he wants Eritrean migrants involved in a violent clash in Tel Aviv to be deported immediately and has laid out a plan to deport all African migrants from the Country arranged.
The comments came a day after bloody protests by rival Eritrean groups in southern Tel Aviv in which dozens of people were injured. Eritreans, both supporters and opponents of the Eritrean government, were confronted with lumber, pieces of metal and stones, smashed shop windows and police cars. Israeli police in riot gear fired tear gas, stun grenades and live rounds while officers on horseback tried to control the protesters.
Saturday’s violence brought back to the fore the refugee issue, which has long divided Israel. Its resurgence comes as Israel is torn over Netanyahu’s judicial reform plan, with advocates citing the migrant issue as a reason the courts should be restricted as they have stood in the way of migrant displacement.
“We want tough measures against the rioters, including the immediate deportation of the participants,” Netanyahu said at a special meeting of ministers called to deal with the fallout from the violence. He called on ministers to present him with plans “to remove all other illegal intruders,” noting in his remarks that the Supreme Court had rejected some measures aimed at forcing migrants to leave.
Under international law, Israel cannot forcibly return migrants to a country where their life or freedom could be at risk.
Netanyahu said on Sunday he did not believe deportation of Eritrean government supporters would be a problem.
There are about 25,000 African migrants living in Israel, mostly from Sudan and Eritrea, who say they have fled conflict or repression. Israel recognizes very few as asylum seekers, viewing them largely as economic migrants and saying it has no legal obligation to keep them.
The country has tried various tactics to drive them out, including sending some to remote prisons, withholding some of their wages until they are ready to leave the country, or providing cash payments to those willing to come in another country to move to Africa. Critics accuse the government of trying to force migrants to leave the country.
Migrant advocates say Israel, a country founded on the rubble of the Holocaust and built by Jewish refugees, should welcome asylum seekers. Opponents say migrants have brought crime to the low-income neighborhoods in southern Tel Aviv where they have settled.
The clashes came as Eritrean government supporters celebrated the 30th anniversary of the current ruler’s rise to power, an event held near the Eritrean embassy in south Tel Aviv. Eritrea has one of the world’s worst human rights records and migrants in Israel and elsewhere say they fear death if they return.
Critics see Netanyahu’s judicial reform plan as a power grab aimed at weakening the courts and limiting judicial control over government decisions and laws. Supporters say it aims to restore the power of elected representatives and curb what they say is an interventionist and liberal-leaning justice system.
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