The Jacob Blaustein Institute for the Advancement of Human Rights (JBI) has made an emergency grant to the Refugee Rights Clinic of the Tel Aviv University Faculty of Law to support immediate interventions on behalf of asylum seekers and migrants from South Sudan who are at risk of imminent deportation from Israel. Since 2008, JBI has worked to promote legislative and policy reforms that call upon Israel to develop an asylum system that complies with its international law obligations.
On June 8, 2012, JBI hosted a discussion with HIAS on the dimensions of the current crisis affecting African asylum seekers and migrants in Israel.
JBI has prepared a background document, updated through June 20, 2012, which summarizes recent events affecting African asylum seekers and migrants in Israel; outlines Israel’s international obligations with regard to asylum seekers and refugees; and cites legal concerns and possible responses to them, including proposals regarding Israel’s development of an effective asylum system, which could enable the government to distinguish between refugees, who have a right to be protected from deportation to their home country, and economic migrants, who are not so entitled.
Updated information on this topic is available in a document prepared by HIAS.