221 Migrant Families to Receive Legal Status in Israel

After four years of unyielding struggle, we were notified on February 11 that our efforts bore fruit – The Minister of Interior, Gideon Saar, announced that 221 migrant families that are still awaiting a response regarding their legal status, will finally hear the much-desired and awaited “yes”!

Following a struggle of human rights organizations led by Israeli Children and us, the government promulgated a decision in August 2010 to grant legal status to migrant children who meet certain criteria: their parents entered the country legally, the child is educated in Israel’s education system, the child speaks Hebrew and other criteria. We accompanied the parents in the nerve-wrecking wait for the response. In cases where the request of the family for legal status was rejected – the Hotline together with Israeli Children appealed against the decision.

Last week, the Minister of Interior decided to approve all 221 requests that were still awaiting a decision.

A long road is ahead of us, we now need to accompany the families in the process of gaining legal status and help them get all the documents the Ministry of Interior requires from them for receiving legal status.

But we will be doing this with great happiness, knowing that the answer to their request is positive.
Soon 221 new permanent residents will be added to the country, children who have long been a part of our society and now finally receive the official recognition of this.
We will keep you updated on developments and we will work to ensure that all the families indeed receive the legal status they’ve been promised.