JERUSALEM – Israel´s Interior Ministry has begun sifting through
applications of over 2,000 children who are in Israel without legal
status.
A ministry official, Sabine Haddad, said Tuesday that legal status
has been granted so far to 257 children, which will allow their
families to stay in the country. She says 118 applications have been
rejected because they didn´t meet government criteria.
Haddad says the ministry will decide on about 2,000 other children
later this month.
There are about 140,000 people who have overstayed their visas in
Israel, most of them Asians and Africans. Thousands have since had
children here. Many of them speak Hebrew and know no other home.
