Israel starts releasing asylum-seekers amid court ruling

Israel on Tuesday began releasing 1,178 African asylum-seekers from an open detention center following a Supreme Court ruling, according to a government spokesperson.

About 600 of the asylum seekers held at the Holot Detention Center in the southern Negev Desert will be released on Tuesday, while the remaining 578 to be released on Wednesday, a spokesperson of the Israeli Population, Borders and Immigration Authority said.

The move came after Israel's Supreme Court ruled on Aug. 11 that asylum seekers can be held to a maximum of 12 months instead of 20, as the government-sponsored Infiltration bill required.

The 1,178 asylum seekers, out of 1,700 held in the facility altogether, are mostly from Sudan and Eritrea.

The Interior Ministry issued a directive that those who will be released from Holot cannot live or work in either Tel Aviv or Eilat, where there are many African asylum-seekers.

The Israeli authorities did not make any arrangements for the release, nor provide transportation or any settlement and employment plans. However, some non-governmental organizations and activists tried to assist by offering rides and places to reside in.

The Infiltration Prevention Act, which was approved last December, enables the detention of asylum-seekers who entered the country illegally. The Supreme Court in August found the law constitutional despite objection from human rights groups, but limited the time of imprisonment.

It's estimated that more than 50,000 asylum-seekers from war-torn Sudan and Eritrea came to Israel. The Israeli government has spent billions of shekels in building a border fence to prevent the infiltrators. Endit