Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has canceled an agreement reached by his government with the UN Refugee Agency to resettle thousands of African migrants to the EU and North Africa.
The pressure to backtrack from the deal is believed to be coming from the backlash received from right-wing leaning base who sees it as a political weakness and being under formal investigations for corruption, Netanyahu very much wants to show strength in leadership especially to his core supporters.
UNHRC, the refugee agency hopes the Israeli government reconsiders its decision while at the same time offering to help identify the protect the needs of asylum seekers in Israel.
The estimated 37,000 African migrants currently living in Israel, from mostly Eritrea and Sudan, are plunged into limbo following the Prime Minister’s announcement to scrap the deal.
Netanyahu, announced live on television Monday about an arrangement with the UNHRC to relocate 16,250 African migrants to Western countries. By the next day, he walked it back in a statement ” I have listened carefully to the many comments on the agreement. As a result, and after I again weighed the advantages and disadvantages, I decided to cancel the deal”.
African migrants who have illegally crossed into Israel through the desert border with Egypt has raised controversy for the Jewish state-which have over the years prided itself as a safe-haven for Jews running from prosecution.
Rights groups in Israeli have condemned Netanyahu’s decision to cancel the agreement, describes his move as ”political games” and turning his back on asylum-seekers knocking at Israel’s doors.
The Jewish state had been going ahead with plans to deport African migrants to Rwanda. The deportations were put on hold when the Supreme Court intervened in March to stop them.
Neba Benson,
BaretaNews Foreign Correspondent/Analyst
