Israel-Born Daughter of Foreign Worker Faces Deportation

Posted on Aug 16, 2011

Flickr / Physicians for Human Rights - Israel (CC-BY-SA)

The child of a migrant worker waits for a clinic run by Physicians for Human Rights in Tel Aviv to open. In the last month, young children of migrant workers in Israel have become subject to deportation.

The Israeli Interior Ministry announced Tuesday that it will deport the 4-year-old daughter of a foreign worker despite the fact that the girl was born and attended school in Israel.

The girl, who had been attending kindergarten in Tel Aviv, was taken into custody along with her mother, who is originally from the Philippines. The two await deportation at Ben-Gurion International Airport, and their departure will mark the first time Israel has ousted a domestic-born and -educated child. Unfortunately for the girl and her mother, as Truthdig previously reported, foreign workers returning home are often greeted with less than welcoming circumstances.

In typical Israel official-speak, the Population and Immigration Authority said, “We are working according to a government decision.” —BF

Haaretz:

Last March, Interior Minister Eli Yishai announced his decision to postpone the deportation of foreign workers’ children who go to Israeli schools and kindergartens, so the state began deporting smaller children. Last month Yishai’s postponement period expired and Tuesday marks the first time the Interior Ministry announced the deportation of a girl who studied in the Israeli education system.

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