Worrisome news. On Monday, the Knesset approved the second and third reading of a law that will deduct an unprecedented amount from the wages of asylum seekers each month. These steep deductions in the workers’ wages will leave them at income levesl insufficient for basic survival, and could result in a real humanitarian crisis among the community of asylum seekers in Israel.
The stated purpose of this law is to “encourage asylum seekers to leave the country”. Except that this is a population that has nowhere to go regardless of any “encouragement”. What the law does in reality is harm the ability of asylum seekers to provide for themselves and for their families.
