Israeli bill would deny migrants right to appeal deportation

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Migrants sleep in Israeli parkMigrants who are denied residency in Israel would be forced to leave the country before appealing the government's decision to deport them, according to an Interior Ministry-sponsored bill put out yesterday.

In an explanatory note, the ministry acknowledged it was seeking to reduce the number of appeals.

"Implementing this revision would allow those who are refused [residency] and have left Israel to file an orderly request," so that the ministry's Population, Immigration and Border Authority could consider allowing them to re-enter the country, the Interior Ministry said in the bill's explanatory note. "In this way, it is possible that most of the appeals will become superfluous and we will save ourselves unnecessary legal proceedings."

The bill, which aid workers say circumvents judicial review, is one of two recent legislative proposals that seem intended to push out migrants whose legal status in Israel is in question.

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