Israeli new law allows locking up immigrants for non-violent crimes

Israel's Attorney General approved a new measure to send African immigrants who entered Israel without permits to detention even for non-violent crimes, the Justice Ministry said Wednesday. The new measure, which allows locking up immigrants for " disturbing public order or theft," was made to "minimize" the threat to public order, according to a statement of the ministry. Previously, the ministry was entitled to send unauthorized immigrants to detention, but only if convicted for violent crimes. However, in the last year, the Israeli government stepped up efforts to halt the influx of refugees and asylum seekers from Eritrea and Sudan by constructing a 240-kilometer long fence along the Egyptian border. Also, Israeli authorities had a powerful hand on illegal immigrants under the new Prevention of Infiltration Law, which allows detaining refugees for up to three years. Data released Tuesday by the Israeli prime minister's office showed that between January and June, only 34 refugees entered Israel, compared with 9,570 in the same period last year.