Clamping Down on Illegal Migrant Money Transfers

YERUSHALAYIM

The Knesset voted for new restrictions on illegal migrants transferring money out of the country, Haaretz reported.

Two amendments to the Law for the Prevention of Infiltration were approved in the plenum on Monday to prevent migrants from sending money or property out of Israel while they are in the country and limiting the amount they can take with them when they leave.

The law will limit the amount migrants take upon exit to no more than the sum of their minimum monthly salary, multiplied by the number of months they have been in Israel.

Border control officials will be authorized to make exceptions for cases of illness and other extraordinary circumstances.

The second amendment criminalizes taking money out beyond the stated limits. Criminalization, it was argued, will facilitate enforcement of the ban.

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, who supported the bill, said Monday night: “We have stopped the infiltration problem into Israel. Last month only two infiltrators crossed the border into Israel, compared with 2,000 last year. We are now focusing on the departure of infiltrators from Israel. Several thousand have already left Israel, and we continue to act to get the illegal infiltrators seeking work out of the country.”

There are currently approximately 2,000 African migrants in detention facilities, 1,750 of whom are being held for breaking the law prohibiting illegal entry into the country.

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