[MakkabI]
January 31st, 2005, 07:13 PM
All members of Ethiopia's Falashmura community who are entitled to immigrate to Israel will be brought to Israel by the end of 2007, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon decided Monday.
The decision was made during a special meeting attended by Interior Minister Ophir Pines-Paz, Immigrant Absorption Minister Tzipi Livni and Jewish Agency Chairman Sallai Meridor.
It was also decided that the responsibility for the transit camps in Ethiopia, where some 15,000 to 20,000 people are waiting to immigrate to Israel, will be handed over to the Jewish Agency within several weeks.
As of June 1, the monthly rate of immigration from Ethiopia to Israel will be doubled from 300 to 600 people. This decision is in fact a reenactment of a previous government decision on the subject dating from February 2003.
Several thousand members of the Falashmura community demonstrated outside the Prime Minister's Office during the meeting, demanding the end of the monthly immigration quota and implementation of the government's February 2003 decision.
Before the meeting, representatives of the demonstrators met with Yisrael Maimon, director-general of the Prime Minister's Office.
Source: Haaretz
Government cancels Ethiopian immigration quotas
Heading a special immigration committee, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon decided that all of the Falash Mura from Ethiopia can immigrate to Israel by the end of 2007, the Prime Minister's Office said Monday.
This decision means that, beginning in June 2005, the number of Ethiopian immigrants per month will double. The current quota stands at roughly 300 immigrants per month, while 15,000 to 20,000 Falash Mura await aliya in Ethiopia.
The Falash Mura are descendants of Ethiopian Jews who converted to Christianity and have since returned to practicing Judaism, and are Jewish according to Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar. Each month, 300 come under the Law of Entry, rather than the Law of Return, despite a government decision in February 2003 to bring them all quickly.
Justice Minister Tzipi Livni, Finance Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, Minister Natan Sharanksy, Jewish Agency Chairman Sallai Meridor, Prime Minister's Office director-general Ilan Cohen and Interior Minister Ofer Pines participated in Monday's meeting, among others.
Outside the meeting, some 2,500 Ethiopian immigrants protested, demanding a cancellation of the monthly quota of Falash Mura permitted to immigrate to Israel.
During the course of the conference, the prime minister said that we "must make every effort to increase the aliya, and the treasury must allocate extra resources to further this goal."
The prime minister emphasized the importance he places upon aliya from Ethiopia, and especially emphasized finding a solution to the problem faced by the Falash Mura.
Sharon ordered that within three months they present him with a detailed and inclusive plan to bring the remaining Falash Mura to Israel.
The plan would include an agreement with the Jewish organizations that are active in camps in Ethiopia to transfer their activities to the authority of the Jewish Agency.
Source: Jerusalem Post
http://www.haaretz.com/hasite/images/iht_daily/D310105/demo147_reu.jpg
Israelis of Ethiopian origin holding pictures of relatives still in Ethiopia during a protest outside Ariel Sharon's Jerusalem office Monday.
:) :cheers:2
The decision was made during a special meeting attended by Interior Minister Ophir Pines-Paz, Immigrant Absorption Minister Tzipi Livni and Jewish Agency Chairman Sallai Meridor.
It was also decided that the responsibility for the transit camps in Ethiopia, where some 15,000 to 20,000 people are waiting to immigrate to Israel, will be handed over to the Jewish Agency within several weeks.
As of June 1, the monthly rate of immigration from Ethiopia to Israel will be doubled from 300 to 600 people. This decision is in fact a reenactment of a previous government decision on the subject dating from February 2003.
Several thousand members of the Falashmura community demonstrated outside the Prime Minister's Office during the meeting, demanding the end of the monthly immigration quota and implementation of the government's February 2003 decision.
Before the meeting, representatives of the demonstrators met with Yisrael Maimon, director-general of the Prime Minister's Office.
Source: Haaretz
Government cancels Ethiopian immigration quotas
Heading a special immigration committee, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon decided that all of the Falash Mura from Ethiopia can immigrate to Israel by the end of 2007, the Prime Minister's Office said Monday.
This decision means that, beginning in June 2005, the number of Ethiopian immigrants per month will double. The current quota stands at roughly 300 immigrants per month, while 15,000 to 20,000 Falash Mura await aliya in Ethiopia.
The Falash Mura are descendants of Ethiopian Jews who converted to Christianity and have since returned to practicing Judaism, and are Jewish according to Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar. Each month, 300 come under the Law of Entry, rather than the Law of Return, despite a government decision in February 2003 to bring them all quickly.
Justice Minister Tzipi Livni, Finance Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, Minister Natan Sharanksy, Jewish Agency Chairman Sallai Meridor, Prime Minister's Office director-general Ilan Cohen and Interior Minister Ofer Pines participated in Monday's meeting, among others.
Outside the meeting, some 2,500 Ethiopian immigrants protested, demanding a cancellation of the monthly quota of Falash Mura permitted to immigrate to Israel.
During the course of the conference, the prime minister said that we "must make every effort to increase the aliya, and the treasury must allocate extra resources to further this goal."
The prime minister emphasized the importance he places upon aliya from Ethiopia, and especially emphasized finding a solution to the problem faced by the Falash Mura.
Sharon ordered that within three months they present him with a detailed and inclusive plan to bring the remaining Falash Mura to Israel.
The plan would include an agreement with the Jewish organizations that are active in camps in Ethiopia to transfer their activities to the authority of the Jewish Agency.
Source: Jerusalem Post
http://www.haaretz.com/hasite/images/iht_daily/D310105/demo147_reu.jpg
Israelis of Ethiopian origin holding pictures of relatives still in Ethiopia during a protest outside Ariel Sharon's Jerusalem office Monday.
:) :cheers:2