JERUSALEM: A Nepali migrant worker and her two Israeli-born children were arrested on Thursday morning after immigration inspectors broke into their home in Herzliya as part of Israel’s recent deportation drive. The family has been held in detention since.
Ishora Uprita, came to Israel to work in geriatric care. With the birth of her son, about nine years ago, Israel did not renew her work visa.
Uprita, her 9-year-old son Michael and 5-year-old daughter Shira are being held in Givon Prison. The custodianship court that heard their case on Monday decided that the three will remain in detention until the end of the proceedings and that Michael would not begin the school year with his classmates.
The students and parents at Weizmann School in Herzliya, where Michael was supposed to begin fourth grade on Sunday, are calling for the family’s release.
In a policy reversal, the Interior Ministry said Sunday that it will now deport foreign workers with school-aged children even during the school year.
Last year, the ministry’s Population, Immigration, and Border Authority decided that families with children enrolled in school would be deported only during summer vacation. The new policy is a reversion to that of previous years when families with children were deported year-round.
Attorney David Tadmor, who filed the petition, amended it on Sunday to add a new argument – that deporting children during the school year will deprive them of their right to education under the Compulsory Education Law.
(with inputs from Haaretz)
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