27 November 2014
Government data shows authorities dragging their feet on
requests for asylum from Eritrean, Sudanese nationals held
in Holot detention facility.
The state has yet to respond to 80 percent of the requests for asylum submitted by Eritrean and Sudanese nationals being held in the Holot custodial facility, according to data from the Population, Immigration and Border Authority.
Although the state had promised to expedite the requests of those being held in Holot because of the restrictions on their freedom, the statistics, being published here for the first time, show that the state has completed processing only 396 of the 1,913 requests for asylum submitted by detainees at the facility. As far as is known, all those requests were refused.
Another 781 Holot inmates were interviewed but have yet to receive a response, and 736 of those who submitted requests were never even summoned for an interview.
Both amendments to the Prevention of Infiltration Law that were eventually invalidated by the High Court of Justice set timetables for processing asylum requests for inmates in Saharonim Prison, but not for those detained in Holot. The new amendment to the law, which is expected to be discussed by the cabinet on Sunday, also sets no deadline for responding to Holot inmates’ requests.
