Issue No.2 December 2005

In Brief

Access to Education:

In response to a petition submitted by ACRI, in partnership with the Karamah Organization for Human Rights, the Tel Aviv District Court issued a temporary injunction obligating the Ramle Municipality to provide transport to neighboring schools for students residing in the Dahmash neighborhood.

Fighting House Demolitions:

In response to ACRI's petition, the Supreme Court issued an interim injunction to stop the demolition of homes and related structures in the West Bank village of Hirbat Tana.

The Right to Due Process:

ACRI urgently appealed against a proposed bill that applies solely to non-residents who are accused of security-related offences. If enacted, the bill will allow draconian criminal procedures for investigation, interrogation and detention that will severely violate the most basic rights of non-resident detainees.

The Right to Privacy:

ACRI vehemently opposed the proposed privatization of the National Insurance Institute’s (NII) telephone switchboard service. Such action would provide a private entity with access to a broad-based and sensitive database, thereby violating the public's right to privacy and other rights.

Banning the Use of Human Shields:

As a result of a petition submitted by seven human rights organizations, the Supreme Court banned the use of Palestinian civilians as “human shields" in the course of military operations. The IDF has requested a second hearing of the case before the Supreme Court.

Equal Pay for Ethiopian Keses:

As a result of ACRI's intervention, the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry for Religious Affairs have pledged to redress the inequitable terms of employment endured by Ethiopian Rabbis.

Internship Position at ACRI:

ACRI is currently recruiting for interns to assist our International Relations and Development Department.

The Right to Dignity:

Although the Supreme Court rejected ACRI's petition against the government's decision in 2003 to slash welfare benefits, the court recognized the constitutional right to live in dignity and ruled that the state must provide a safety net for its citizens.

Message from Rachel Benziman, Executive Director of ACRI

December has been an incredibly busy for everyone here at ACRI, during which we celebrated International Human Rights Day (10th December) with a full week of varied public events in Hebrew, Arabic and Russian, debates in the Knesset, and high-profile media initiatives. The publication of our annual State of Human Rights in Israel and the Occupied Territories report generated widespread media coverage and succeeded in placing key human rights concerns high on the public agenda. The comprehensive report drew attention to the ongoing trend of privatizing public services coupled with damaging leglislation that continues to undermine the basic right of citizens to live in dignity. Against the backdrop of rising poverty rates, ACRI has pinpointed the protection of socio-economic rights as a key priority of our legal, public outreach, and educational work in the coming year. We look forward to keeping you apprised of our progress in 2006.

With deep appreciation for your continued support and best wishes for a peaceful and productive New Year.

Rachel Benziman

Children with No Protection
By Yonatan Berman, an attorney in the Legal Department of the Hotline for Migrant Workers. This article originally appeared in Haaretz on August 3, 2005.

In June the government decided to grant official status to the children of migrant workers who comply with certain criteria. However, only a minority of children and their families will benefit from the arrangement; the vast majority will continue to be defined as illegal residents by the criteria which are extremely narrow and include a requirement that the individual requesting official status be born in Israel. Thus, while the 120 families who meet the terms of the stated criteria await the response to their requests for residency, hundreds of other children who came to Israel at a young age and are Israelis in every sense, are being subjected to the government’s first move in its plan to detain and deport them.

Click here to read the full article

Children of Migrant Workers - Interview with ACRI Attorney Michal Pinchuk
Since joining ACRI in 2000, Attorney Michal Pinchuk has worked tenaciously in the legal arena to safeguard the rights of migrant workers and their children. In the following interview, Ms. Pinchuk describes the problems confronted by children of migrant workers who live under the threat of deportation.

Q: Could you give us a general overview of the problem faced by children of migrant workers?
A: The problem is that these children and their families have no formal residency status, and are therefore exposed to the threat of expulsion at any time, even though they have lived in Israel for many years and it clearly represents the cultural center of their lives. In many instances the children have no connection with their country of origin, and in some cases do not even speak the language of that country.

Q: What is the impact of this tenuous status on their daily lives?
A: As I mentioned before, these children have to live with the uncertainty and fear of expulsion which can happen at any moment, and although they do attend school (according to the Compulsory Education Law, every child residing in Israel is obligated to attend school), and are covered by a comprehensive health insurance, as a result of a special arrangement with Kupat Holim Meuhedet [an Israeli health insurance fund] that was secured by ACRI, Physicians for Human Rights, and a coalition of social change organizations, they are still ineligible for all other social benefits and cannot take anything related to their future for granted. The fact that they have no formal status impacts on every aspect of their daily lives, and even the most basic civic action is complicated. For example, registering for school matriculation exams, which is an automatic and well-oiled procedure for Israeli children, is complicated and fraught with anxiety when it comes to children with no registered status.

Q: What is the government doing to address this issue?
A: A recent government decision stipulates four conditions for the granting of permanent residency status to children of migrant workers. The decision requires that: 1) the child be born in Israel; 2) that his/her parents entered the country legally before his/her birth; 3) that the child is ten years old or older; and 4) that the child speaks Hebrew and either attends school in Israel or has completed his/her studies. Although it is extremely difficult to estimate the number of children in this position who are residing in the country, the following are realistic estimates of the scale of the problem. According to the Mesila: Aid and Information Center for the Foreign Community organization, there are, in total, approximately 1,300 children without status residing in Israel between the ages 0 to 18 years old, of which only 400-500 (according to ACRI’s estimation) comply with the aforementioned criteria. This leaves some 800 children with no formal status.

Click here to read the rest of the interview.