The year 2019 saw a 10-fold increase in the number of cross-border infiltrations into Israel from Jordan, compared to the two previous years, according to IDF data obtained by Israel Hayom.
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The Israeli Immigration Policy Center petitioned the Tel Aviv District to discover the exact numbers, but the IDF Spokesperson's Unit refused to hand the information over for nearly a year. Eventually, the IIPC received the numbers under the Freedom of Information Law.
In 2017, IDF forces spotted 10 infiltrations from Jordan, and in 2018, that number stood at 13. However, 2019 saw 120 identified infiltration incidents from Jordan. However, the numbers only refer to the number of incidents and not the number of people who attempted to cross the border illegally. Most of the incidents involved groups rather than individuals, so it is not improbable to assume that the number of people who attempted to infiltrate Israel from Jordan in 2019 was as high as a few hundred.
Along with the increased number of incidents identified, the army thwarted fewer attempts in the same time frame. In 2018 10 out of 13 infiltration attempts (77%) were prevented, compared to only 81 out of 120 (68%) in 2019.
It is likely that there were other incidents that slipped under IDF forces' radar.
The issue of illegal border crossings from Jordan first came to light through tracking rulings by Israel's immigration custody court, which holds hearings on the cases of migrants arrested by Population Authority inspectors in Israel months or years after crossing the Jordanian border.
Most of the infiltrators who were caught and put in government custody arrived from Turkey, and nearly all of them had entered Israel as migrant laborers or as tourists and were deported after overstaying their visas. Some even tried to return to Israel after their deportations, but were rejected.
The infiltration from Jordan bears similarities to the illegal infiltration Israel saw from Egypt prior to building its border fence in the southern. At its peak, that influx reached some 2,000 Sudanese and Eritrean migrants per month. Those migrants also used paths originally created by infiltrators from China, Georgia, and Turkey.
IIPC attorney Yonatan Yakobovich said, "Past experience teaches us that the moment smuggling networks are in place, they expand both in terms of numbers and the number of countries from which the infiltrators arrive.
"Because the border is completely open in the Arava and there is no expectation that a border fence will be built, it's clear that there is nothing that will prevent a new wave of infiltrators, even from Africa. The government has to try new infiltrators on criminal charges and pass new laws to prevent infiltration in order to deincentivize infiltration into Israel," Yakobovich said.
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