Following an appeal by Ukrainian Ambassador Yevgen Kornichuk, a petition was submitted to the High Court yesterday (Saturday) demanding the annulment of Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked’s decision to restrict the entry of refugees from Ukraine (who are not eligible for entry under the Law of Return) to 5,000 people. It is due to take effect today (Sunday).
The petition was filed by the law firm of Tomer Warsaw after Kornichuk, Ukraine’s ambassador, Yevgen Kornichuk, filed a petition against the outline that Shaked announced last week on the grounds that it violated the bilateral agreement between the two countries, which does not require an entry visa.
The petition claims that Shaked is not authorized to restrict the entry of refugees. This is because in 2010 the government approved an agreement granting exemption from reciprocal entry visas with the Ukrainian government. Since this is a decision of the government, it was argued that Shaked is not authorized to change it and the outline should be revoked.
“Not only was the minister’s policy adopted without authority and thus null and void. But even the substance of the policy cannot stand, as it disproportionately violates the right to family life of Israeli citizens, and the right to life, security and bodily integrity of Ukrainian citizens seeking temporary protection in Israel.”
The Facebook page of the Ukrainian Embassy in Israel said yesterday that “the embassy supports the basis of the petition designed to protect the rights of Ukrainian refugees, especially women and children. We hope the decision will be impartial. We also salute the Israeli government’s decision to change its policy. “Despite their religion or nationality.”
The petition states that “it is regrettable that there is any need to take legal action on a pressing humanitarian issue. When almost the whole world mobilizes to help Ukrainian citizens in the biggest European refugee crisis since World War II and Israel stands aside and does not do enough. In this sense, accepting the petition “It will also promote justice, both with the history of the Jewish people and with the citizens of Ukraine, who found themselves a day of refugee refugees.”
In order to prevent the invalid outline from entering into force, an application was also submitted for an interim order prohibiting the outline from entering into force.
According to Advocate Warsaw: “As someone who has been dealing with immigration, status and refugee law on a daily basis for two decades, it was clear to me that the decision was disproportionate and constitutes a blatant violation of refugee law and international conventions to which Israel is a signatory. But after a short legal investigation, we also found that the minister is simply not authorized to decide as she decided. “
The outline presented by Shaked is expected to expand this week even without the petition, due to pressure from the coalition. It should be noted that the quota set by Shaked for the absorption of 5,000 refugees is already approaching the upper limit.