UN calls on Israel to stop forcing African migrants out of the country
Geneva — On Tuesday, the UN called on Israel to scrap a new programme to force thousands of African migrants out of the country, condemning it as incoherent and unsafe. The programme is targeting an estimated 38,000 people, mainly from Eritrea and Sudan. Israel has offered them $3,500 and a plane ticket if they leave by March, warning they may face arrest after the deadline. The plan was widely criticised when first unveiled last year, but the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) sounded a fresh alarm after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s announcement last week that the programme had begun. "UNHCR is again appealing to Israel to halt its policy of relocating Eritreans and Sudanese to Sub-Saharan Africa," the agency said in a statement. UNHCR spokesperson William Spindler told reporters in Geneva that the programme was not "coherent" and "has not been implemented in a very transparent manner". Israel has not clearly said where the migrants will go, but tacitly recognises it is too d...
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