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Last update - 06:12 18/02/2008 Interior Min. mulls 'absorption grant' for T.A.'s African refugees By Yigal Hai, Haaretz Correspondent Tags: Israel, Ketziot, Tel Aviv  The city of Tel Aviv will set up a municipal team to expedite the transfer of government grants to African refugees staying there, officials said Sunday. According to Deputy Mayor Yael Dayan (Meretz), Interior Ministry officials informed them of the plan to give each refugee a NIS 2,000 "absorption grant" at a meeting Thursday with representatives of city hall and refugee aid organizations. A statement yesterday from the Interior Ministry said such a plan was indeed presented, but had not received final approval yet, nor has it been decided which government ministry would foot the bill. The government initiative is aimed at reducing the number of refugees staying at severely overcrowded shelters in Tel Aviv. Some 1,000 currently live in shelters in the city's southern neighborhoods. Advertisement The municipal team will handle the registration of refugees eligible for the grant - those with work permits from the Interior Ministry - and the city says it is willing to fund the grants from its own budget, assuming the national government repays it later on. "We hope to vacate the shelters quickly because they are unhabitable," Dayan, the municipal official charged with refugee affairs, said yesterday. "We sought to expedite the process, so the municipality will provide the logistics to implement it. The idea is for people to have an initial sum of money to get organized on the outside. Through the grant, several refugees will be able to rent an apartment together for two or three months, during which they can try to find work." In a related development, the Interior Ministry officials announced Thursday that refugees released from Ketziot Prison will be allowed to work only south of Gedera and north of Hadera. Refugee rights advocates said yesterday that the geographic restriction violates refugees' freedom of movement, and undermines access to their communities and human rights organizations that are located in the center of the country. "Hundreds of illegal migrant workers and those with work permits have found themselves in the Tel Aviv area without the wherewithal to live, buy clothing or food, or find a job and living quarters," said Interior Ministry spokeswoman Sabine Haddad yesterday, "while there is great demand for workers among employers in [Israel's] outlying areas, who are also offering room and board. "In light of this, it was decided in concert with the Tel Aviv municipality that the workers will be directed toward employers who can offer them work, and thereby keep them from finding themselves with nothing. We think that in light of the situation, the Interior Ministry is acting correctly and doing a great deal to find solutions, and even much more than is necessary." Dayan disagrees. "Kids, volunteers and human rights organizations have been doing the government's work," she said. "Only now, with the situation about to explode and the media is showing the refugees' catastrophic conditions, the [national] government has remembered to intervene. These solutions could have been proposed from the start. There's no medal here for any government. The pressure from the municipality and relief organizations brought about this little bit." Mijal Grinberg contributed to this report. Related articles: Plight of African refugees in Tel Aviv nears 'humanitarian crisis' Freed African refugees are expected to flock to Tel Aviv Eritrean refugee killed trying to enter Israel illegally from Egypt Bookmark to del.icio.us   Independence day Kosovars rejoice as Kosovo declares itself an independent and sovereign state. Settling the score 1/3 of W. Bank settlements are on Palestinian land seized for 'security purposes.'   1.   HOW ABOUT AN "ABSORPTION GRANT" 10:32  |  Robert 18/02/08   2.   To Robert 11:15  |  Shlomo from Tel-Aviv 18/02/08   3.   # 1 Try top use both sides of your brain. 12:31  |  Stephen. 18/02/08   4.   GIVING AWAY HOLYLAND PIECE BY BISS? REMEMBER ARIK,YOU`R NEXT! 13:05  |  VOICE of MOSHIACH))) 18/02/08   5.   I DIDN`T SAY THAT WE SHOULDN`T 13:33  |  Robert 18/02/08   6.   VOICE OF THE MIDDLE AGES))) 13:34  |  Robert 18/02/08   7.   GIVING AWAY HOLYLAND PIECE BY BISS? REMEMBER ARIK? YOU ARE NEXT!! 15:10  |  VOICE of MOSHIACH))) 18/02/08   8.   #7: The biggest chunk was given away 15:59  |  5th generation 18/02/08   9.   Stephen in Switzerland 16:21  |  ??? 18/02/08

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