A controversial government decision to deport illegal migrants in Israel to a third party African country, which has set off a wave of protests, has the support of a majority of the Israeli public, a recent Israel Hayom poll shows.
The survey, conducted by the New Wave research institute, polled a sample of 500 Jewish Israelis on whether or not Israel should deport illegal migrants. Asked specifically about the government's policy, which is scheduled to go into effect on April 1, 58% said they supported the policy, while 23% said that they disagreed. The remainder had no opinion in favor or against deportation.
The poll also revealed that 51% of respondents believed illegal migrants were in Israel only seeking work, rather than fleeing for their lives. However, 37% said they believed that the migrants were genuinely seeking asylum. The remaining 12% said they did not know whether the migrants were in Israel for work or for safe haven.
The response corresponds with figures from the Immigration and Population Administration in the Interior Ministry, stating that only 11 of the over 12,000 asylum requests submitted by migrants in Israel have been found to be valid. Ten of the recognized asylum seekers are from Eritrea, and the 11th is from Sudan.
Under the policy, only single men of working age will be categorically deported. Women, children, and parents will be given a choice between voluntarily leaving Israel and going back to their countries of origin or to Rwanda – an option that carries with it a grant of $3,500 in addition to a government-funded flight – or being imprisoned in the Saharonim facility in the Negev Desert for an indeterminate length of time.
The policy applies to the 34,187 illegal migrants from Eritrea and Sudan currently in Israel.
When asked if Israel was right to deport illegal Eritrean and Sudanese migrants to Rwanda after reaching an arrangement with that country's government, 63% said the government had made the right decision, compared to 20% who disagreed with it.
Respondents were also given two statements and asked to choose which they agreed with: "Hundreds of thousands of Jews arrived in Auschwitz because most of the nations of the world were unwilling to offer them asylum, so Israel – as the Jewish state – has a moral obligation to accept refugees and not deport illegal migrants," or "The migrants are work-seekers, not refugees seeking asylum, so Israel has no moral obligation to allow them to stay."
Fifty-nine percent said they agreed with the second statement, characterizing the migrants as work seekers, more than twice the 24% who insisted that Israel had a moral obligation to take in the migrants and not deport them.
As early as 2014, the government offered illegal migrants the option to leave the country voluntarily without repercussions, prompting over 15,000 illegal residents to depart.
On Wednesday, MK Michal Rozin (Meretz) was scheduled to present a bill that would establish a parliamentary investigative committee to examine the policy of deporting refugees to Africa.
