News from Israel: Meretz Israel MKHaim Oron on Infiltration Bill

Meretz Israel Brief – 3.2.10MK (Member of Knesset) Haim Oron (Meretz) calls on the government to rescinder infiltration bill 2.2.10Meretz Chairman Haim Oron has today advised the government that the infiltration bill should be replaced with a bill defining the status of refugees. The bill received its first reading in the Knesset yesterday, proposing the automatic detainment of illegal immigrants on entry into the country, a notion contrary to the 1991 convention for proceedure in the treatment of asylum seekers. The bill also seeks to refute Article 6 of the current law regarding the treatment of asylum seekers, effectively prohibiting the absorption of subjects from enemy states, such as Sudan. The proposal has inspired much criticism from internal elements in government, including liberal parties such as Meretz. In a statement following the bill motion, MK Oron claimed: “the terms of the bill must be anchored in the legislation of international convention, to enable citizens of specified enemy states who pose no threat to Israel to seek asylum here without risking deportation to places where they will suffer oppression.”As the Interior Committee for the Law for Protection from Infiltration adjourned for the second consecutive day, MK H.Oron addressed the committee: “Israel has both a moral and historical obligation to refugees. It is the duty of the Knesset to disambiguate the status of refugees according to the strictures of international law. Another Meretz representative, Ilan Gilon bolstered the position of the Chairman, claiming “beyond my embarrassment is shock at this glaring example of racism, where the discussion's participants rely on facts distorted to fit their agenda, such as the idea that refugees are carriers of contagious disease. In the core of the Judaism lies a conscience that renounces the righ t to exist in the midst of racism. I suggest background checks as the determinant of whether individual asylum seekers pose a security threat, while women and children are granted the right to humanitarian aid in Israel.”

Translated by MERETZ UK original in hebrew at Meretz Israel

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