‘Country quietly trying to expel hundreds of Congolese migrants’

The state has removed the temporary protected status it gave to hundreds of Congolese migrants, the Hotline for Refugees and Migrants announced on Tuesday.

The NGO also said that the policy shift which was made earlier this week and coordinated by Interior Minister Arye Deri, the Population Immigration and Borders Authority (PIBA) and the foreign ministry, was not announced publicly in an effective manner.

There was a posting on PIBA’s website, but if relevant migrants did not know to look on the website for the notice, it would not necessarily have reached them.

According to the NGO statement, all Congolese would need to leave Israel within 90 days, or by January 5, as the ministries determined that there is no legal bar to their deportation from Israel.

Slamming the move, the Hotline said that with Congolese elections coming up, and thus a time of increased violence, the policy shift was highly irresponsible.

Moreover, it said that a number of Congolese migrants in Israel would face specific personal dangers and persecution if they returned to their home country.

It called on the state to hold off on any process to deport the Congolese migrants until after the upcoming Congolese elections.

The Foreign Ministry had not responded by press time.