Israel says high probability migrants will be deported to Uganda
After Netanyahu dispatches special envoy to Uganda in rapid bid to revive deportation plan for thousands of illegal African migrants from Israel, state asks High Court to grant a few more days to give a final decision, claims the majority of the details have already been fleshed out.
The HCJ had asked the state to respond to petitions filed by rights groups against the deportation of illegal African migrants, mainly from Eritrea and Sudan, but in light of the latest development that has resulted from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s rapid dispatching of a special envoy to Uganda, one of the countries with which a deportation agreement had been signed, the state has now asked that more time be granted.
The east African country was referred to as the "third country" in an official statement to the court, and while the state is seeking more time while matters are clarified, the special envoy said that the majority of the main sticking points have been fleshed out.
Moreover, in light of the latest change, Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit believes that there is a high probability that the required conditions will be finalized for Israel to proceed with the deportations.
However, extra time was said to be needed for the finalization of the new framework. The state added that there is no pretext for releasing the remaining 212 additional migrants who are still being held at the Saharonim detention center.
A group of 58 African migrants released from detention on Wednesday who had been awaiting deportation before the collapse of an international deal to send them to Rwanda, said that they intend to return straight to Tel Aviv and search for work there, despite being instructed by authorities not to.
The fate of the 212 additional migrants remaining in the Saharonim detention centre in southern Israel awaiting possible deportation to Uganda depends on whether the Israeli envoy who visited had managed to secure a deal for them to be taken in.
“There is no reason to change the temporary injunction that was given by the court on March 15 and at the present time, there is no pretext for releasing them from custody,” the state wrote to the court, noting that the conclusions of the fresh diplomatic effort will be passed onto the attorney general by next Monday.
According to a HCJ statement, the matter will be quickly clarified and the envoy will speedily notify the attorney general and all other relevant officials on the developments.
The petitioners however, were dissatisfied with the court’s decision to accede to the request, and called for the immediate release of the remaining migrants.
A statement put out by them read, “It is astonishing that the respondents in their recent statements chose to reveal a little and hide a little, and to avoid saying that just two nights ago the Ugandan foreign minister had announced that his country has no agreement whatsoever to accept the asylum seekers from Israel, and that ‘if the asylum seekers are deported from Israel and arrive in Uganda, we will insist that airline companies take them back to the place where they came from.’”
"The respondents' request to continue an illegal situation and detain some 200 people in Saharonim who have been asked to wait patiently in case Israel might in the future reach a new agreement with Uganda, Rwanda or any other country, is a scandalous request that contravenes the court's rulings on human liberty and, specifically, the matter of asylum seekers," they added.
Petitioners were 119 human rights activists, represented by attorney Itay Mack.
