Israel approves harsh penalties for illegal immigrants

In effort to stem wave of illegal African immigrants from the Sinai, Knesset grants authorities power to imprison illegal migrants for life over property crimes and detain them for up to three years without trial • Human rights advocates decry measure, calling it a "stain" on Israel's legal code.
The Associated Press and Israel Hayom Staff

Detained immigrants (archive). Tough measure complements construction of 150-mile fence to counter illegal immigration.

Israel's parliament on Tuesday approved harsh new penalties on illegal immigrants and Israelis who help them, passing one of several controversial measures designed to stop the flood of Africans seeking sanctuary from poverty and conflict.

The bill makes it possible to imprison illegal migrants for life over property crimes and detain them for up to three years without trial. Anyone caught helping migrants could face prison terms of five to 15 years.

Critics deplore the new law and say it is an unconstitutional trampling of human rights. They accuse the government of failing to formulate a coherent, humane policy on illegal immigration that would address an issue that has become increasingly urgent over the years.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has called the swelling number of illegal immigrants a "national scourge," voted for the bill. His spokesman, Mark Regev, called the legislation part of a "multi-tier strategy to deal with the challenge of illegal immigration to Israel." But he would not comment on critics' concerns about the new law.

MK Nitzan Horowitz (Meretz) called the new law a "stain" on Israel's legal code. In a commentary Monday, retired Judge Boaz Okon, the legal affairs analyst for the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper, called it "unlimited license to employ terror against anyone who reaches Israel."

Africans began trickling into Israel through its porous southern border with Egypt's Sinai Peninsula after Egyptian security forces violently quashed a demonstration by a group of Sudanese refugees in 2005, killing at least 20. The number of migrants surged as word spread of safety and job opportunities in the relatively prosperous Jewish state.

The government estimates that 50,000 Africans have entered Israel illegally since then. The overwhelming majority, officials say, have come in pursuit of a more comfortable life and are not fleeing persecution.

Migrant advocates contend the Africans are bona fide refugees and should be granted asylum. They accuse the government of ignoring the retribution most of the migrants face should they return home.

The influx has touched off a national debate in a country that grew out of the Nazi genocide of Jews. Some Israelis call the migrants an economic and social burden and fear their mounting numbers will dilute Israel's Jewish character.

Others say the Jewish people, because of their history of persecution, must be especially accommodating of others escaping persecution or conflict.

The Africans have congregated in several cities, but the lack of a coherent government policy has led to the creation of slums and friction with locals who claim the migrants have brought crime and harassment of women.

Israel already has repatriated hundreds of Africans, and Netanyahu has said he will explore the possibility of repatriating others when he visits Africa this year.

Last month, the government voted to finance a $160 million program to finish building a 150-mile (250-kilometer) border fence along the Egyptian border and expand detention facilities to hold thousands of new arrivals. Employers who hire illegal migrants now face stiffened fines of up to $18,000.

Israel's Population Immigration and Border Authority says infiltrations through the Egyptian border reached an all-time high in December. According to its website, 2,931 people were detained in the Saharonim Detention Center last month for crossing illegally into Israeli territory from the Sinai, the largest figure ever recorded for a single month. For 2011, the number stands at more than 16,000. Almost 55,000 have crossed into Israel from Egypt since 2006.

Interior Minister Eli Yishai recently said that the swift action must be taken. "The current state of affairs is unacceptable and we must act to stem the tide," Yishai said. "I spoke with the prime minister and asked that alongside the construction of the fence [along the Egyptian border] and the new detention center that he step-up negotiations with African nations, particularly Eritrea and South Sudan, to send all the infiltrators back to their homelands."

According to the authority, Yishai also favors constructing detention centers in Africa to stop the would-be immigrants in their tracks.

As harsh as these laws sound, they do not go far enough.

If you engage in using illegal migrants in the sex trade or as slave labor, you will be punished by 100% of your property seized. In addition to this you will be sentenced to 25 years in prison per migrant abused by you.