Who are the migrant families that reside in south Tel Aviv and face the constant threat of deportation? Who are the refugees struggling to survive? South Tel Aviv stories brings you the lives and faces of the non-Jewish, non-Palestinian “others” who live in the shadow of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and whose lives are impacted by Israel’s goal of maintaining a Jewish majority. The first part in a series.
For some reason, the woman smiles at me as I interview a pair of Eritrean refugees. Though her skin is fair and she is freckled, I guess her to be Indian. She stands by the slide, keeping an eye on her son and watching us, too. When I finish talking to the Eritrean men–who are less concerned about the recent violence in South Tel Aviv and more concerned with making enough money to keep a roof over their heads–I make my way towards the woman and her child.
I introduce myself and we fall into a conversation. As I guessed, C.–who asked to remain anonymous for reasons I’ll reveal below–is Indian. She hails from a village near Goa and is Catholic. Like many Indians from her area, she has a Portuguese family name, a remnant of Portuguese colonialism. She guesses that her freckles and fair skin are, too. She holds her forearm out to compare it to mine. We press our arms together and laugh at how similar our coloring is.
Her two-and-a-half-year-old son is zooming about the playground and she calls him over in Hebrew. She tells him to say hello and he offers me a quick “Shalom” before zipping back off.
I inquire then about her husband. She admits, shyly, that she doesn’t have one. Her son’s father is from the Ivory Coast. They met here, when C. was just 23.
“My first boyfriend,” she tells me.
C.’s boyfriend went back to the Ivory Coast when she was four months pregnant, abandoning her and the baby. It took her a while to understand that he wasn’t coming back. In the meantime, she says, “My belly grew.”
Frightened by the prospect of caring for a child alone, worried that her parents would disown her because she hadn’t married the baby’s father, she went to the doctor to see if she could have an abortion. The doctor told her it was too late.
Throughout her pregnancy, C. did her best to avoid other Indian workers. India is a big country but the overseas communities function something like a small village. Her parents didn’t know that she was with child. And she didn’t intend them to find out–the consequences could be severe.
But somehow, an Indian worker in Israel found out and called home to tell C.’s parents. C.’s family called her, hysterical. C., now 26, recalls the conversation:
‘You are not married. What will everyone say about us? You cannot bring that baby home. You will ruin our name and your brother and sister will never be able to marry!’ they said.
C. is still so worried about shaming her family that she asks me not to use my digital recorder. She eyes it mistrustfully. “I don’t know if you have a camera in there,” she says, “And then, maybe, my face will be on the television.”
Although C. arrived in Israel on a work visa, she lost her legal status and her job shortly after she gave birth due to an Israeli policy that forbids migrant workers from having (and keeping) children in the country. Although the Israeli Supreme Court struck that policy down in April 2011–calling it a violation of Israel’s own labor laws–C. and her child, as well as hundreds of other migrant families, still face imminent deportation.
C.’s parents demand that she leave her son in Israel so as not to shame the family. If she brings her child back to India she will probably be disowned by her parents. C. has a 10th grade education. Before she came to Israel to work as a caregiver, she worked in a beauty salon. She made 1000 rupees a month (about 250 USD).
If her parents do not allow her and her son to live with them, C. is worried that they won’t survive. She adds that she has heard stories about women in India who have been disowned by their families and have ended up committing suicide.
In the meantime, C. rarely ventures out of the house with her son for fear of attracting the authorities’ attention. She takes him straight to the nursery when she goes to work as a house cleaner. When she picks him up, they head straight home. Because she lost her work visa, she is having trouble supporting herself and her little boy. Rent is the first priority, food is second. When I ask C. if she has enough to eat, she answers that her son gets enough food.
I don’t know what to say to C.. I wish I had some way of helping her. I sit down on the ground and open my phone to find telephone numbers of NGOs for her to call. As I scroll through my contacts, C. squats beside me and asks me about my life–my age, my work, my income, my family status. She seems impressed that I’m a female journalist making her way in the world without the help of a husband or parents. I understand then why she’d watched me interview the Eritrean refugees.
I hand her the paper and we stand. I want to take this young woman in my arms. I want to hug her and tell her that everything will be okay. But that wouldn’t be professional and, besides, I’m not sure it’s true.
We shake hands. Her palm is rough and dry. I wish her luck.
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Joel
Mya,
It’s odd how your heart bleeds right up until the Syrian border,but no further.
mya guarnieri
Joel: That’s a diversionary tactic. Would you like to address the topics of this story? They are: 1) the deportation of migrant families; 2) the fact that Israel is ignoring the ruling of its Supreme Court, which struck down the policy that made women like this one illegal to begin with?
Or maybe you would like to address the fact that this woman arrived on an Israeli-issued work visa? Or would you like to address tensions in South Tel Aviv in general, including the attacks on Africans?
Yardena
How about birth control? It seems if the rules are clear and if it is so wrong to have a baby with someone you’re not married to then you just shouldn’t do it. If you do it anyway you know the concequences. Of course I understand as a woman it’s harder to stand by this but if you ask me there should be more emphasis on that because if she didn’t have this child she would still have a work permit (if I understand correctly) or otherwise she would be able to return home. But good writing & good luck to you.
Mya Guarnieri
joel, i deleted your second comment because that, too, was off topic. whenever you want to engage with the issues presented in the post, leave another comment.
Vicky
Yardena, birth control isn’t infallible, and in any case it’s a bit late for that now. There’s not much point in discussing what this lady should have done then when she has no idea what she can do now.
.
Mya, is there any way that this woman could at least be supported to get adequate food? People might be willing to provide her with a basic parcel each month – tinned goods, soap, etc. Obviously it’s not a viable long-term solution, but it will take some of the strain off her while she tries to sort out her situation. Perhaps a lawyer from one of the human rights groups would be prepared to represent her pro bono if she wants to fight for her work permit?
.
Joel, if Mya lived and worked in Syria I would expect her to respond kindly to and then report on the suffering she witnessed there. But she lives and works in Israel, and this lady in South Tel Aviv is no less deserving of her time than a Syrian would be. When you see homeless people sleeping rough in your hometown in the middle of winter, do you walk by and tell yourself that it’s OK to walk by because at least they’re not being massacred in Homs?
Kolumn9
Mya, I have no idea how her being Indian, Catholic, light-skinned has any bearing on the situation.
.
Her story is sad, but why is it that the collective responsibility for caring for this Indian woman and her child fall on Israel? I am assuming that both are Indian citizens and so ultimately they are the responsibility of the Indian government. Israel has enough problems with providing for Israelis without creating the conditions to encourage massive immigration from the third world. Additionally, she is not a refugee, nor are the Eritreans. Some of the Sudanese might be, but the rest are economic migrants and admit it.
.
Yes, she should be deported, as should everyone else in the country illegally. Suggesting that her presence is somehow justified by having arrived on a legal work visa issued by the Israeli authorities, also demonstrates the fact that it is up to Israeli authorities to determine whether her presence is continued. Deportation would certainly address the tensions in South Tel Aviv between the citizens of Israel and those that are in the country illegally.
Mya Guarnieri
kolumn9: you’re right, her ethnicity and religion shouldn’t be important. but it seems to be to israel… which insists on deporting women and children even though the supreme court struck down the policy that made them illegal to begin with. yes, israel has the right to deport illegals. no, israel does not have the right to deport children. israel is a signatory to the UN convention on the rights of the child. and, no, israel does not have the right to ignore the rulings of its own supreme court. if israel doesn’t want foreigners here, it should stop issuing visas.
Greg Pollock
“Although the Israeli Supreme Court struck that policy down in April 2011–calling it a violation of Israel’s own labor laws–C. and her child, as well as hundreds of other migrant families, still face imminent deportation.”
.
A Court that will not, or can not, enforce its own orders is not court at all. We seem to be witnessing the reverse of former Chief Justice Barak’s years, when the Court did forcefully intervene against State action. Until that happens again, none of the things you report will stop.
.
Kolumn9: “Suggesting that her presence is somehow justified by having arrived on a legal work visa issued by the Israeli authorities, also demonstrates the fact that it is up to Israeli authorities to determine whether her presence is continued.”
.
No, Kolumn, the law determines that. You do not live in the rule of law. And I think you quite like that.
.
I continue to believe the rule of law is where the ultimate battle of Israel lies.
Kolumn9
@Mya, most of the people in the neighborhood you got this story from have no visa to Israel. Your argument that if Israel doesn’t want foreigners it should stop issuing visas is silly. The Israeli government gets to determine who is legal and who isn’t. The Supreme Court’s ruling ruling her change of status illegal doesn’t mean she can stay forever. It just means that the Interior Ministry followed incorrect procedure, but I am sure you know the Interior Ministry by law has the right and ability to cancel any and all visas. So even that defense of her ability to stay in the country is flimsy at best. As for the reference to the UN convention on the rights of the child, even here you have a problem because the it is a matter of interpretation whether the best interest of the child is in staying in Israel. Assuming your position any foreigner with a child would be able to sneak into Israel and not be able to be deported. Does this seem like a reasonable policy to you?
.
@Greg, You can’t pretend that there is only the interpretation of the law that you like.
Greg Pollock
@Kolumn9, I don’t have to pretend–your High Court has already decided on that. It might decide otherwise later, but not now.
.
The piece says the Court ruled employing labor law, not visa status. I have no idea, of course. The overarching point is that the Israeli State often disregards High Court decisions. And that is part of your ongoing, slow motion, constitutional crisis.
Joel
Mya. My latest comment was ‘on topic’ but it hasn’t been posted.
Besides being gagged, have I been sent to the Gulag as well?
Kolumn9
@Greg, the court ruled that the procedure was wrong, not that people whose work visa was wrongly voided are henceforth allowed to stay in the country permanently. Yet, that seems to be the argument the article makes.