REPORT: ISRAEL OKAYS HISTORIC PLAN TO ABSORB CHILD REFUGEES FROM SYRIA WAR

REPORT: ISRAEL OKAYS HISTORIC PLAN TO ABSORB CHILD REFUGEES FROM SYRIA WAR

BYJPOST.COM STAFF

 26 JANUARY 2017 11:57

Israel has allegedly agreed, for the first time, to grant asylum to some 100 children orphaned by neighboring Syria's bloody civil war, Channel 10 News reported Wednesday night. 

According to the report, Interior Minister Arye Deri recently approved the humanitarian plan under which Israel would absorb the child refugees from Syria.

The historic move has yet to materialize, but outlines of the plan are said to entail an initial three-month accommodation of the children in Israeli dormitories. In the following stage, the Syrian orphans will be integrated into Education Ministry institutions and also possibly taken in by foster and adoptive families.

According to Channel 10, the Syrian children will be brought to Israel on temporary residency status. That status will allow them to receive Israeli identification cards, however it will not immediately qualify them for national passports. It was not initially clear if the Syrian children residing in Israel would be able to apply for travel documents en lieu of a passport.

Under the purported initiative, the state plans to inform the United Nations that after four years of residency in the country, the children will become eligible for permanent residency status, authorizing their indefinite legal stay in Israel. 

In addition, the Israeli government is reportedly considering residency sponsorship parameters to allow the legal immigration of the orphaned children's immediate family members, if they are later found alive.

After nearly six years of war, millions of Syrians have fled their homes. Hundreds of thousands have been killed.

According to the IDF, Israel has allowed more than 2600 Syrians in for medical care. Israel has, however, thus far refused to accept refugees from Syria, with which it is still technically at war.

After the brutal battles in Aleppo late last year, Israel began looking into taking in Syrian orphans from the devastated city, either for a short or lengthier period of time, an Israeli official said earlier this week. Yet, the source added that project is still far off if it does eventually happen.

Reuters contributed to this report. 

http://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Report-Israel-okays-historic-plan-to-absorb-child-refugees-from-Syria-war-479650