Israel approves new bill to detain illegal migrants

JERUSALEM - The Israeli Knesset (parliament) on Monday approved a new bill allowing the authorities to detain African asylum seekers for up to 20 months without trial.

The Infiltration Prevention Act is a third formulation of an existing bill which was disqualified by the Israeli Supreme Court twice for its infringement upon migrants' basic human rights by not checking their asylum requests and incarcerating them without trial.

Experts believe the bill still faces difficulties from the Supreme Court, as groups of migrants will probably appeal the law.

Currently 2,000 migrants from Sudan and Eritrea were being held at the southern Holot detention center, out of approximately 48,000 African migrants who illegally entered Israel from Egypt.