Last update - 00:00 17/03/2007
Ethiopian government working to close emigration camp in Gondar
By Ayanawo Farada Sanbatu, Haaretz Correspondent
The Ethiopian government is working to close a camp in Gondar province used as a center for emigration to Israel.
Last week, the governor of Gondar province issued a closure order on the camp, following complaints by Christian residents of the area against the camp's activities.
The order's implementation was delayed by organizations working for the immigration of Falashmura Ethiopians to Israel.
The Falashmura are Ethiopians who claim to have converted from Judaism to Christianity in the past, but have since returned to Judaism.
The Jewish Agency will hold an emergency meeting Sunday on the matter.
Activists for Falashmura immigration are in contact with Ethiopian authorities in an effort to revoke the order, the purpose of which is the effective end of immigration to Israel from Gondar province.
Two and a half years ago, the Ethiopian government closed the emigration camp in the capital of Addis Ababa, claiming it did not operate legally.
A senior official involved with immigration issues said that in recent weeks two delegations have been sent to Ethiopia to try to improve relations with the government. Ethiopian authorities have criticized the emigration activity as harming the regime's stability.
Leading one of the delegations is Oded Salomon, director of the immigration department of the Jewish Agency.
The second delegation is composed of representatives of Jewish communities in the United States.
A Jewish Agency spokesperson said, "Our assumption at the moment is that there has no change. Such things have happened in the past and the orders were canceled."