(Jerusalem) – The Israeli parliament should immediately repeal or amend a newly revised law that punishes asylum seekers for irregularly crossing into Israel, in violation of their basic rights, Human Rights Watch said today. Until the law is amended, Israeli officials should not enforce provisions that violate international refugee standards, Human Rights Watch said. The new Prevention of Infiltration Law treats all irregular border-crossers as “infiltrators.” Against a backdrop of anti-immigrant speeches by senior Israel politicians and rising violence against sub-Saharan Africans in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, and Eilat, Israeli Interior Minister Eli Yishai announced on June 3, 2012, that the ministry would begin enforcing the law.
