Immigration minister: I'll work to bring Ethiopian Jews to Israel
After remaining Falash Mura in Ethiopia embark on hunger strike over Israeli government's foot dragging in helping them make aliyah, Minister Sofa Landver says she is pushing the matter, adds 'permits are not issued by the Immigration Authority but rather by the Interior Ministry.'
Minister of Absorption and Immigration Sofa Landver said Thursday that she will work towards bringing the Falash Mura Jews who remain in Ethiopia to Israel after thousands of them went on a hunger strike protest of government budget cuts that will impede their aliyah.
“I asked the prime minister to raise the issue with the government urgently. I believe that we must put an end to this saga. It is appalling that a soldier should serve in the IDF while part of his family languishes over there" in Ethiopia, Landver said.
Asked about the foot dragging in implementing a government decision from 2015 to bring to Israel the remainder of Ethiopia’s Jewish population, the minister said, “The permits are not issued by the Immigration Authority but rather by the Interior Ministry. I do not want to point fingers, but as far as I am concerned, there are 1,500 beds available to absorb the immigrants.”
Yonatan Chekol, whose family lives in Ethiopia, told Ynet about the current state of the Falash Mura community. “There are 8,000 Jews there now, more than 80 percent of them are close relatives to citizens living in Israel and serving in the army. They are part of two communities, in Gondar and Addis Ababa," he said.
“They cannot integrate, they are being alienated in education and are part of closed communities living under dire conditions. Their socio-economic condition is bad, and they are practically starving. There is nobody to help them,” Chekol went on to say.
He criticized the government’s handling of the matter. “Ministers neglect the issue. At a government session on Sunday, they did not discuss it for lack of time,” he charged.
He asked Landver for her help in advancing the matter: “I hope that you will fight hard to end this saga.”
Alachew Girma, Chekol's cousin, spoke to Ynet from Ethiopia by phone. Cekol translated his words from Amharic: “He said that they are starving. Hunger strike is an everyday occurrence for them. They yearn to immigrate and do not understand how they are different from other Jews living in France and the USA who are (easily) immigrating to Israel.”
Chekol said that the activist group fighting for their aliya will hold a protest outside the Prime Minister’s Residence in two weeks, and they are calling on the general public to join them so that families can join their loved ones in Israel, many of whom are serving in the army.
