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19 Shevat 5767 - February 7, 2007 | Mordecai Plaut, director Published Weekly
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NEWS
Non-Jewish Foreigners Could Become Legal Residents

By G. Lazer

Non-Jewish aliens in Israel could turn into legal residents after District Court Deputy President Judge Michal Rubinstein gave the Interior Ministry four months to set the policy and procedures for determining their residency status.

The court instructed the Interior Ministry to determine how these individuals, who are not recognized by any country, should be related to and how to ascertain whether they could be returned to their respective countries of origin or permitted to become Israeli residents.

The decision came in response to three petitions by stateless children born in the former Soviet Union and represented by an attorney from the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI). Rubinstein also determined that the refusal to grant the three petitioners work and residence permits violates the Basic Law on Human Dignity and Freedom, but denied their request to receive permanent residence status.

According to ACRI estimates, Israel has several hundred stateless people who fall into three categories: residents of east Jerusalem, Bedouins and residents of the former Soviet Union who were not in their country when it splintered and formed, and therefore did not receive citizenship. The three petitioners have been staying in Israel illegally for over ten years and have been under arrest for long periods until it became apparent they could not be deported because their respective countries of origin do not recognize them as citizens.

Interior Ministry Spokeswoman Savir Hadad said, "The Ministry will of course follow the decision, but it should be noted the court rejected the petitions to receive permanent residence status immediately."

 

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