Israel mulls deportation of Eritreans after riots in Tel Aviv
Jerusalem, Sep 3 (EFE).- The Israeli government plans to take measures against the Eritreans suspected of riots in Tel Aviv a day ago, the state-run media reported.
The violence left some 170 people, including dozens of police officers, injured during an event at the Eritrean embassy as participants clashed with anti-Eritrean government protesters on Sunday.
The state-run Kan News reported that 15 seriously injured, including two officers, were hospitalized.
The clashes began when a group of Eritreans boycotted the embassy event.
They threw stones and vandalized nearby stores, prompting the police to disperse the rioters using tear gas, stun bombs, and shots.
The local media said some Eritreans had warned the Israeli authorities of imminent violence and urged them not to allow the event.
An estimated 25,000 Eritreans have been in Israel since a mass exodus from the northeast African country after it gained independence from Ethiopia 30 years ago.
They arrived in Israel clandestinely, crossing from the Egyptian Sinai Peninsula.
Most Eritreans, recognized as asylum seekers, live in a legal limbo with a temporary stay permit.
The Jewish State has not granted them refugee status and has already attempted to deport some of them in the past.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called a ministerial meeting to discuss the possible deportation of suspected Eritrean rioters.
Kan said government lawyers will also attend the meeting to assess the legality of the government’s deportation plan.
The news agency said National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, a fire-brand Israeli lawmaker, wants to put 200 Eritreans in administrative detention – which means arresting them without charges or setting a trial or release.
Violence within the Eritrean asylum-seeking community has occurred in Israel in the past.
Since Eritrea gained independence from Ethiopia 30 years ago, there have been no new elections, and the local government requires exit visas for its citizens to leave the country.
Many Eritreans are also subject to compulsory military service that can extend for many years, one of the reasons that triggered the mass exodus. EFE
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