Jerusalem, Dec 9 (IANS): The Israeli Knesset (parliament) has approved a bill, allowing the authorities to detain African asylum seekers for up to 20 months without trial, Xinhua reported Tuesday.
The Infiltration Prevention Act is a third formulation of an existing bill, disqualified by the Israeli Supreme Court twice for its infringement upon migrants' basic human rights by not checking their asylum requests and incarcerating them without trial.
Experts, however, believe the bill faces difficulties from the Supreme Court, as migrants' groups may probably appeal against the law.
Currently 2,000 migrants from Sudan and Eritrea are being held at the southern Holot detention centre, out of approximately 48,000 African migrants who illegally entered Israel from Egypt.