African migrants hit by new tax in Israel

AFRICA - Nine years ago, Teklit Michael fled Eritrea to avoid military conscription, survived a perilous journey across the Sinai peninsula and sought asylum in Israel. The 29-year-old Eritrean community organizer now works as a cook at a restaurant in south Tel Aviv alone, without family and in legal limbo, awaiting a response to his asylum request. Since May, Michael’s life has faced another challenge with new tax rules that force his employer to put part of his salary in a fund which he can access only if he leaves Israel. He believes the aim of the new legislation, which applies only to African migrants and asylum seekers, is clear. “They want us to leave the country,” said Michael, who left his homeland rather than serve in an army accused by human rights groups of treating conscripts brutally and forcing them to serve indefinitely. “They want to break our spirit.” The Interior Ministry says the new rules are in- tended to benefit the migrants and asylum seekers, whom the government refers to as illegal infiltrators. “(It provides) a sum of money that the person will have when he leaves,” said Sabine Haddad, a spokeswoman for the ministry’s population, immigration and border authority. Since its creation in 1948, Israel has been a haven for Jews fleeing persecution. But for nearly a decade, it has struggled to deal with tens of thousands of non-Jewish Africans who entered the country illegally, seeking asylum or work. Many have lived for years in Israel and spent time in a desert holding center waiting for their asylum requests to be considered, allowed by the government to have jobs even though their temporary visas do not give them the right to work. Israel has granted asylum to fewer than 1 percent of those who have applied and has a years-long backlog of applicants.

(Reuters.com)