Israel Considers Immediate Deportation of Eritreans After Tel Aviv Violence

Israel is considering tough steps including the immediate deportation of Eritrean asylum seekers involved in riots in Tel Aviv on Saturday. Some 170 people were injured in violent clashes with police and in-fighting between groups of supporters and opponents of the Eritrean regime. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said “a red line” had been crossed. He also ordered a new plan to remove all African migrants that he described as “illegal infiltrators”. Saturday’s unprecedented disorder began after activists opposed to the Eritrean government said that they had asked Israeli authorities to cancel an event organised by their country’s embassy. Israeli police – several dozen of whom were among the injured – said they felt their lives were at risk. There were also dramatic street battles between large crowds of Eritreans armed with pieces of wood, metal and rocks. The divisions within Eritrea over the rule of President Isaias Afwerki have spilled over into the diaspora, and this is the latest outbreak of violence in recent weeks. The rioting has put the divisive issue of migrants back on the political agenda, at a time when Israel is already split over the hardline government’s highly controversial judicial overhaul plan. Mr Netanyahu and others in his cabinet have blamed the Supreme Court for blocking earlier attempted action to push migrants out of Israel.

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