Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu officially canceled an agreement made with the United Nations that would have relocated thousands of African asylum seekers to Western countries.
The cancellation on April 3 came a day after the agreement was first announced and hours after the prime minister said he would freeze the deal in order to consult with members of his government coalition as well as the residents of southern Tel Aviv, where many of the migrants live.
“In the past 24 hours, I have held many consultations with Interior Minister Aryeh Deri, with professionals and representatives of residents of southern Tel Aviv,” Netanyahu said in his announcement. “I listened attentively to criticism of the agreement. As a result, and after evaluating a new balance of advantages and disadvantages, I decided to cancel the agreement.”
He also said: “Despite the growing legal and international difficulties, we will continue to act with determination to exhaust all the possibilities available to us to remove the infiltrators. At the same time, we will continue to seek additional solutions.”
Under the agreement announced earlier April 2 with the U.N. High Commission for Refugees, Israel would have allowed thousands of African migrants to stay in the country on a temporary residency permit for up to five years. The rest, some 16,000 or so, would have been settled in countries such as Canada, Germany and Italy.
The proposal could have seen about 16,000 stay in Israel, at least temporarily. Do you think at least 16,000 of the refugees should be allowed to stay for good?