UN WARNS ISRAEL ON NEW REFUGEE LAW

     Geneva, 9 Rabiul Awwal 1435/11 January 2013 (MINA) – The UN Relief Agency UNHCR warned Israel on Friday over open-ended detention of refugees.

     Under the new legislation passed last month, illegal immigrants without valid visas can be detained indefinitely.

    “Indefinite detention certainly would be at odds with human rights norms,” said Adrian Edwards, UNHCR spokesperson, Anadolu Agency quoted by Mi’raj News Agency (MINA) as reporting.

     The United Nations last year called on Israel to change the refugee law, Edwards noted, adding that the organization is prepared to support refugees in exercising their legal rights.

      Thousands of African migrants took to the streets of Tel Aviv for a second day to protest against their treatment by the Israeli government.

      The demonstrators, mostly Eritrean and Sudanese nationals, are furious over a law that allows the detention of illegal immigrants for a year without trial.

       The demonstrators, mostly Eritrean and Sudanese nationals, are furious over a law that allows the detention of illegal immigrants for a year without trial.

       It allows sending refugees to a desert prison and since its ratification over 300 hundred people have already been detained, British daily The Guardian reports.

        Mostly Sudanese and Eritrean, nearly 53,000 refugees are currently in Israel according to the UNHCR. (T/P09/P04).

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)