Illegal infiltrators protest in Tel Aviv
Illegal infiltrators protest in Tel AvivFlash 90

Residents of South Tel Aviv are enraged by the release of 58 illegal African immigrants from the Saharonim prison facility on Wednesday.

Shlomo Maslawi, chairman of the Hatikva neighborhood committee and Tel Aviv city council member, sent a letter to Minister of Public Security Gilad Erdan (Likud) claiming that that government was abandoning its obligations towards its residents.

"I am addressing you on behalf of the residents of the southern Tel Aviv neighborhoods who live in fear and anxiety, fearing for their lives and the lives of their families," Maslawi wrote. "This evening we learned that 58 infiltrators who were imprisoned in the Saharonim facility were released."

"We cannot describe the feeling of despair that gripped us again at this announcement," Maslawi said. "These infiltrators will join the thousands of their brothers who flood the southern neighborhoods and sow fear among the residents. "

"We urge you, as someone who is supposed to enforce law and order in the State of Israel, to exercise all your weight and to enforce by all means possible the ban on infiltrators from reaching Tel Aviv," Maslawi said. "We hope that the Israeli government finds a solution in the near future and will take care of the expulsion of all the infiltrators from Israel."

The newly-released infiltrators will be able to live and work anywhere except for Bnei Brak, Tel Aviv, Petah Tikva, Jerusalem, Eilat, Netanya, and Ashdod.

The 58 were released following the collapse of the agreement with Rwanda. According to the agreement, Rwanda would have taken in some 40,000 male, unmarried illegal migrants who, seeking work, have flooded Israel since 2007, entering by way of the Sinai Peninsula from various African nations. Married infiltrators were to be allowed to remain.

Last month, the Supreme Court froze the plan to deport the thousands of illegal immigrants just weeks before the program was slated to begin. Israel had agreed to grant each several thousands of dollars to aid their adjustment in the countries willing to absorb them.

While the Knesset backed the plan last December, which would include deportation to third countries, widely reported to be Uganda and Rwanda, Israeli opponents of the plan pressured the two countries to back out of the agreement, leading Rwanda to deny its involvement in the plan.