31 oct 2019
The kids facing deportation were picked up on their way to school in contradiction to ministry regulations that were agreed upon sparking more fear among the migrant workers community
Hundreds of school children and their teachers protested Thursday outside a prison south of Tel Aviv where two children of migrant worker parents are being held before deportation to the Philippines.
Gena who is a middle school student and Ralf who is only in the 5th grade where both born and raised in Israel and are incarcerated with their mothers while deportation proceedings against them continue.
The protesting school mates of the two demonstrated for hours calling on the minister of the interior to keep the children from harm and let them remain in Israel.
"There is no differentiating between blood. We are all humans" one sign said.
"We cannot allow this evil" another sign said.
This was the largest demonstration to date outside the prison since the government began the current wave of deportations.
Herzliya Hebrew Highschool principle Zeev Dagani halted studies to allow student to participate and even provided buses to transport protesters to the prison.
Dagani said "The arrest of these kids is an act of racism and the children here came to cry out against it"
The educator continued, "We appeal to the judicial system to bring about the release of the students and call on all warm-hearted citizens to come and join our protest because there is no more valuable lesson that could be taught".
Youth movements also joined in the organization.
The two kids were detained by police as they were heading for school despite an understanding that immigration authorities would not target children in this manner after instruction were passed down from the interior ministry and sparking more fear among the migrant workers community.
Yaakov Ashkar and Alex Uri, who are students at Herzliya Hebrew Highschool said:
"We've come to demonstrate for Gena's release. She is one of us. Children of 10 and 12 years of age must not be deported", adding "Since we've heard that Gena was being held in prison, we've been so depressed".
Hundreds of school children and their teachers protested Thursday outside a prison south of Tel Aviv where two children of migrant worker parents are being held before deportation to the Philippines.
Gena who is a middle school student and Ralf who is only in the 5th grade where both born and raised in Israel and are incarcerated with their mothers while deportation proceedings against them continue.
The protesting school mates of the two demonstrated for hours calling on the minister of the interior to keep the children from harm and let them remain in Israel.
"There is no differentiating between blood. We are all humans" one sign said.
"We cannot allow this evil" another sign said.
This was the largest demonstration to date outside the prison since the government began the current wave of deportations.
Herzliya Hebrew Highschool principle Zeev Dagani halted studies to allow student to participate and even provided buses to transport protesters to the prison.
Dagani said "The arrest of these kids is an act of racism and the children here came to cry out against it"
The educator continued, "We appeal to the judicial system to bring about the release of the students and call on all warm-hearted citizens to come and join our protest because there is no more valuable lesson that could be taught".
Youth movements also joined in the organization.
The two kids were detained by police as they were heading for school despite an understanding that immigration authorities would not target children in this manner after instruction were passed down from the interior ministry and sparking more fear among the migrant workers community.
Yaakov Ashkar and Alex Uri, who are students at Herzliya Hebrew Highschool said:
"We've come to demonstrate for Gena's release. She is one of us. Children of 10 and 12 years of age must not be deported", adding "Since we've heard that Gena was being held in prison, we've been so depressed".
13 aug 2019
'I told them I want to stay here, we did nothing wrong,' says 13-year-old Rohan Perez, sent with his parent to her home country after Tel Aviv court approves their deportation; their departure was delayed by 24 hours after Rosemarie Perez had an outburst on the plane and had to be removed
A 13-year-old boy born and raised in Tel Aviv was deported alongside his mother to her home country of the Philippines on Monday night, despite his pleas to remain in the only country he has known.
Rohan Perez was born in Isael to Rosemarie Perez, now 42, who entered Israel legally in 2000 and worked as a caregiver. But when her employer passed away in 2007, Perez stayed in Israel illegally, working as a cleaner.
Rosemarie said she didn’t leave the country when her employment ended because she wanted her son, who attended the Bialik-Rogozin School in Tel Aviv, to live in Israel. She also said she has no relatives in the Philippines.
The two were arrested last Tuesday in their apartment in south Tel Aviv by Population and Immigration Authority officers and were held at the Yahalom detention facility in Ben-Gurion Airport until their deportation was approved.
In a phone call from the detention facility, Rohan said that after the court rejected their appeal against deportation, he and his mother were taken from the detention facility straight to the airport.
"They just tossed us around," said Rohan. "They took us to the airport with nothing.
"We asked to make a phone call, but they wouldn't let us. I told them that I wanted to stay here and that we had done nothing wrong."
The two were accompanied by a pair of Population and Immigration Authority officers after they had to be taken off an earlier flight due to Rosemarie having an outburst on the plane.
The two departed on a flight to Bangkok late Monday, after which they were to board another flight to the Philippines.
This is the first family with a school-age child to be forcibly deported after a series of arrests in recent weeks as part of a large-scale operation to deport around 100 foreign workers, most of them from the Philippines, and their children born and raised in Israel.
This is the third family with a school-age child to be arrested as part of the operation that began three weeks ago.
Ofrecina Cuenca and her 12-year-old son Michael James are still waiting for a decision in their case. Geraldine Esta and her two children, 10-year-old Qian and 5-year-old Catherine, are set to be deported in the middle of September. Esta's legal team is planning to appeal the decision.
Once arrested, the detainees are forced to sign documents saying they have to leave the country with their children by the end of the school year in exchange for their freedom.
The Population and Immigration Authority said in a statement that while they are people in Israel illegally, it had decided to let their children finish the current school year.
"These are foreign citizens who have been living illegally in Israel for a very long period without any regulated status," the Authority said.
"In some cases, if not most, the children's fathers are waiting for them in their countries of origin.
"These workers were arrested this year for unlawful presence in Israel, but a decision was made to allow their children to finish their school year, as long as the mothers respected the decision and willfully left the country with their children and return home (without deportation)."
"We are dismayed at the incessant attempts to take advantage of this considerate step."
A 13-year-old boy born and raised in Tel Aviv was deported alongside his mother to her home country of the Philippines on Monday night, despite his pleas to remain in the only country he has known.
Rohan Perez was born in Isael to Rosemarie Perez, now 42, who entered Israel legally in 2000 and worked as a caregiver. But when her employer passed away in 2007, Perez stayed in Israel illegally, working as a cleaner.
Rosemarie said she didn’t leave the country when her employment ended because she wanted her son, who attended the Bialik-Rogozin School in Tel Aviv, to live in Israel. She also said she has no relatives in the Philippines.
The two were arrested last Tuesday in their apartment in south Tel Aviv by Population and Immigration Authority officers and were held at the Yahalom detention facility in Ben-Gurion Airport until their deportation was approved.
In a phone call from the detention facility, Rohan said that after the court rejected their appeal against deportation, he and his mother were taken from the detention facility straight to the airport.
"They just tossed us around," said Rohan. "They took us to the airport with nothing.
"We asked to make a phone call, but they wouldn't let us. I told them that I wanted to stay here and that we had done nothing wrong."
The two were accompanied by a pair of Population and Immigration Authority officers after they had to be taken off an earlier flight due to Rosemarie having an outburst on the plane.
The two departed on a flight to Bangkok late Monday, after which they were to board another flight to the Philippines.
This is the first family with a school-age child to be forcibly deported after a series of arrests in recent weeks as part of a large-scale operation to deport around 100 foreign workers, most of them from the Philippines, and their children born and raised in Israel.
This is the third family with a school-age child to be arrested as part of the operation that began three weeks ago.
Ofrecina Cuenca and her 12-year-old son Michael James are still waiting for a decision in their case. Geraldine Esta and her two children, 10-year-old Qian and 5-year-old Catherine, are set to be deported in the middle of September. Esta's legal team is planning to appeal the decision.
Once arrested, the detainees are forced to sign documents saying they have to leave the country with their children by the end of the school year in exchange for their freedom.
The Population and Immigration Authority said in a statement that while they are people in Israel illegally, it had decided to let their children finish the current school year.
"These are foreign citizens who have been living illegally in Israel for a very long period without any regulated status," the Authority said.
"In some cases, if not most, the children's fathers are waiting for them in their countries of origin.
"These workers were arrested this year for unlawful presence in Israel, but a decision was made to allow their children to finish their school year, as long as the mothers respected the decision and willfully left the country with their children and return home (without deportation)."
"We are dismayed at the incessant attempts to take advantage of this considerate step."
2 aug 2019
The Israeli authorities must urgently investigate death threats targeting three civil society organizations, including Amnesty International’s Israeli section in Tel Aviv, the organization’s International Secretariat said today.
Anonymous death threats were sprayed last night outside the offices of Amnesty International Israel and ASSAF, an organization working to assist refugees and asylum-seekers in Israel.
At the same time, a box containing death threats and a dead mouse was left at the entrance to the Elifelet Children’s Activity Center for refugees.
“These are deplorable and malicious acts targeting civil society organizations carrying out human rights work. The Israeli authorities should take a strong stand by publicly condemning these acts and making clear that attacks against NGOs will not be tolerated,” said Philip Luther, Amnesty International’s Research and Advocacy Director for the Middle East and North Africa.
These are deplorable and malicious acts targeting civil society organizations carrying out human rights work.
The Israeli authorities must also take steps to ensure that human rights defenders and civil society organizations more generally are effectively protected and can carry out their work free from threats, intimidation or harassment.
All attacks against human rights defenders must be promptly investigated and those responsible brought to justice.”
In recent years, the climate for human rights defenders in both Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories has rapidly deteriorated. Israeli authorities have taken steps to unduly restrict the rights to freedom of expression and association inside Israel, with officials intimidating human rights defenders critical of the government and introducing legislation to silence dissent.
Anonymous death threats were sprayed last night outside the offices of Amnesty International Israel and ASSAF, an organization working to assist refugees and asylum-seekers in Israel.
At the same time, a box containing death threats and a dead mouse was left at the entrance to the Elifelet Children’s Activity Center for refugees.
“These are deplorable and malicious acts targeting civil society organizations carrying out human rights work. The Israeli authorities should take a strong stand by publicly condemning these acts and making clear that attacks against NGOs will not be tolerated,” said Philip Luther, Amnesty International’s Research and Advocacy Director for the Middle East and North Africa.
These are deplorable and malicious acts targeting civil society organizations carrying out human rights work.
The Israeli authorities must also take steps to ensure that human rights defenders and civil society organizations more generally are effectively protected and can carry out their work free from threats, intimidation or harassment.
All attacks against human rights defenders must be promptly investigated and those responsible brought to justice.”
In recent years, the climate for human rights defenders in both Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories has rapidly deteriorated. Israeli authorities have taken steps to unduly restrict the rights to freedom of expression and association inside Israel, with officials intimidating human rights defenders critical of the government and introducing legislation to silence dissent.
Page: 2 - 1
