OCCUPIED JERUSALEM (AFP)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has delayed until the end of the school year the expulsion of 1,200 children of foreigners working illegally in Israel, his office said on Sunday.
"Children of foreign workers who are having lessons in state-run schools will be able to complete the school year" up to June 2010, the premier's office said in a statement.
"Meanwhile, Interior Minister Eli Yishai will chair a commission which between now and the end of May will study whether they should stay" in Israel, the statement added.
Some 1,200 Asian and African children born in Israel had faced deportation along with their parents on Nov. 1 following a crackdown on foreign workers who have overstayed their visas and continue working in the Jewish state.
The fate of the children has struck a deep chord in Israel, which has absorbed millions of Jewish immigrants since its founding in 1948.
The children are, for all intents and purposes, Israeli -- they speak fluent Hebrew, know all the Jewish holidays by heart and celebrate them at school and consider Israel their home.
According to official figures, some 222,000 foreign workers live in Israel, including 107,000 who have exceeded the term of their work permits.
Israel started welcoming non-Jewish immigrants mainly from Asia in the mid-1990s to fill a gaping need for cheap labor in construction, agriculture and care giving.
It issues work visas for nearly 30,000 foreigners every year, and many stay on once their visas expire. |
