Protests erupt against Israel’s plans to forcibly expel African asylum seekers

A move by Israeli authorities to forcibly evict tens of thousands of African asylum seekers has sparked growing protests in the country’s capital of Tel Aviv and across other countries of the world.

Reports say rallies are expected to be staged in London, New York, Paris, Berlin, Toronto and more than a dozen other cities to protest Israel’s effort to deport asylum seekers to third countries in Africa, namely Rwanda and Uganda.

Findings also reveal that scores of marchers are being held outside the Rwandan embassies in each respective city.

“Protesters will demand that Rwandan President and African Union chairman Paul Kagame refuse to participate in Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s plan,” organisers said in a statement.

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Israeli authorities have began to issue deportation notices to African asylum seekers mostly from Sudan and Eritrea following a bill passed by the Israeli parliament in December authorising the government to force asylum seekers out of the country.

According to reports, the over 20,000 people who are not held in the country’s open detention facility risk being imprisoned indefinitely if they do not leave the country within 60 days.

The Israeli daily Haaretz reports that the first wave of notices were distributed to single male asylum seekers who are in the country without families on Sunday leaving out parents, women and children at least for now.

Government representatives reportedly provided refugees during visits to detention centres with a letter that listed Rwanda – and in a previous occasion, Uganda – to relocate them to.

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