Israel has cancelled plans to deport migrants to Africa after striking a deal with the United Nations refugee agency.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had announced the deal on national TV, saying Israel agreed to cancel the planned expulsion of tens of thousands of African migrants. He said the deal with the United Nations called for sending half of them to Western nations and allowing the rest to remain in Israel.
Late Monday, Netanyahu said he was “suspending” the deal in order to discuss the arrangement Tuesday with Israeli residents of south Tel Aviv areas with large migrant populations.
Due to the large migrant presence, poor neighborhoods in south Tel Aviv have become known as “Little Africa.” Working-class Jewish residents have complained of rising crime and pressed the government to take action.
But the migrants also found wide pockets of support, with many Israelis arguing that the country, founded in the wake of the Holocaust, had a special responsibility to help those in need.
Over the years, Israel threatened the migrants with prison, placed them in a now-shuttered desert detention camp and tried to persuade them to leave by offering them money and a one-way ticket to Africa. After those options failed, it announced plans to begin deporting them to an unidentified African country — believed to be Rwanda or Uganda — on April 1.
Netanyahu said the plan was scrapped after it became clear that the “third country,” which he again did not identify, could not handle the influx.
“From the moment in the past few weeks that it became clear that the third country as an option doesn’t exist, we basically entered a trap where all of them would remain,” he said.
He described Monday’s compromise as the best available option.
In his Facebook post announcing the deal’s suspension, Netanyahu accused the New Israel Fund, a liberal advocacy group, and “elements” in the European Union of derailing a deal with Rwanda.
Migrants who earlier agreed to return to Africa had reported abuses and broken promises after arriving in Rwanda. In some cases, their travel papers were confiscated or they were quickly sent to Uganda. Both Rwanda and Uganda denied having any agreement with Israel.
Italy and Germany, two countries identified by Netanyahu as likely destinations, both denied having any agreement in place.
Canadian officials said they were in touch with Israel about the matter. Mathieu Genest, a spokesman for Canada’s immigration minister, said his government was reviewing over 1,800 requests by Eritreans to resettle in Canada. He noted that Canada has pledged to resettle a total of 4,000 Eritrean refugees by the end of the year.
As part of the framework, Israel said it would rehabilitate and develop affected neighborhoods in south Tel Aviv, while also resettling African migrants elsewhere in the country.
