Yishai opposes committee decision on migrant workers' children

Interior Minister Eli Yishai supports granting permanent residency status to only 1/3 of the children of foreign migrant workers in Israel, a number significantly lower than the recommendation of a professional committee that released its report on the matter on Thursday.

The committee, comprised of representatives from various government ministries, recommended that legal status be granted to 2/3 of the approximately 1,200 children living in Israel illegally.

Welfare Minister Isaac Herzog (Labor) said that any deviation from the committee's report would be "unreasonable and a grave injustice."

	Children of foreign workers in Israel
	Photo by: Ofer Vaknin

"If need be, we will demand a cabinet discussion," he said.

The committee recommended that children who had been in Israel for at least five years and were registered in the education system, including those expected to enter first grade this coming school year, be granted legal status.

Rotem Ilan, the founder of Israeli Children, an advocacy group for the children of migrant workers, called the situation absurd.

"We support the committee's recommendations. If the committee's recommendations are not considered, we will step up our efforts [to fight deportations]," he said.