Last update - 00:00 12/11/2006
Rights groups protest unlawful deportation of foreign laborers
By Ruthie Sinai, Haaretz Correspondent
Human rights organizations have called on Israel to stop the deportation of foreign laborers being carried out under a clause that the High Court has said promotes a "form of modern-day slavery."
The Association for Civil Rights in Israel, Kav Laoved, Hotline for Migrant Workers and other groups have submitted a joint petition claiming that about one hundred non-Israeli workers have been unlawfully sent back to their countries because of a work restriction rescinded by the High Court.
In April 2006, the High Court ruled that the work permits of foreign laborers who were laid off or quit their jobs would not be revoked.
"The state has taken the liberty to scorn the court's ruling and continue to infringe on human rights, their freedom and the autonomy of the foreign workers society," lawyers Itay Sabirsky and Yonathan Berman, who represent the rights groups, wrote in their perition.