Help us protect Eritrean refugees from deportation

NIF Australia has long worked to protect refugees and asylum seekers who have fled to Israel seeking safety. On the 2nd of September, the safety of Israel’s Eritrean refugee community was threatened.

Israeli police used live ammunition and rubber bullets on hundreds of protesters in Tel Aviv, in response to street fighting occurring at a contentious event celebrating 30 years of Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki.

The far-right Israeli government has used this moment to push their xenophobic, anti-refugee agenda. Since the protests, over 50 Eritrean protesters have been transferred to administrative detention, meaning they could be imprisoned indefinitely and be given no legal representation. The ultimate goal of the government is to deport them back to Eritrea.

Your support is needed to provide legal aid to defend these refugees and prevent their deportation.

We are sending an $8,000 emergency grant to NIF grantee, the Hotline for Refugees and Migrants (HRM) to provide additional legal support to help the Eritrean detainees. This grant will provide urgently needed additional resources to HRM, allowing them to increase the hours of their current legal staff and hire additional lawyers over the next four months to defend the detainees in court proceedings.