Illegal migrants in Israel pray for better times

TEL AVIV, Mar 13: Holding up a Bible in a makeshift church in Tel Aviv, an African pastor asks God to shield his flock of migrant workers from Israeli arrest.

''We will go out under your protection, Lord, and come home safe,'' Solomon Tetteh shouts. Worshippers respond with ''Amen''.

Where Israel previously welcomed many Christian migrant labourers from Africa and Asia -- to replace Palestinians who used to do the work -- it now aims to reduce their number, to cut unemployment among Jews.

It has launched repeated crackdowns on an estimated 80,000 or more foreign workers who lack work permits or whose papers have expired or been revoked. Another 85,000 migrants are working legally in the Jewish state.

After a Palestinian uprising began in 2000 in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip, Israel brought in more foreign workers to replace Palestinians who worked on farms and building sites.

Israel viewed Palestinians as a security risk, though human rights groups said taking away their jobs amounted to collective punishment.

Many of the illegal workers seek support and spiritual solace in a cluster of makeshift churches that have opened in apartment blocks in the coastal city of Tel Aviv.

Sometimes equipped with musical instruments and plastic chairs -- but with no pictures of Jesus on display -- the churches are concentrated in a run-down area around the central bus station and serve mainly Africans who entered Israel on tourist visas and could not obtain work permits.

Tetteh works with Reverend George Gyasi-Baaye, from Ghana, who runs the Redemption Power Ministry, one of some 15 churches that have sprung up in Tel Aviv to cater for migrant workers.

CHURCHES OFFER HELP

Gyasi-Baaye said there had been nearly 40 churches active in the area in previous years, but some had closed down, partly because deportations had shrunk their congregations.

''There are lots of empty chairs at services these days,'' he said. ''In some churches it's only a couple of people and the pastor.'' For illegal migrants with no access to state benefits, the church is often the only place they can turn for help.

''I am seven months pregnant and the church is looking after me,'' said 16-year-old Hannah Yaboah, adding that her fiance had been arrested for not having a work visa. ''I don't know what will happen after I have my baby.'' Migrant workers are not allowed to stay in Israel if they start a family.

The churches have not been raided by authorities, but many church-goers fear they are being watched when they attend a service and some workers said illegal immigrant worshippers had been picked up on leaving them. A spokesman for Israel's Immigration Administration, a division of the police, denied that any church-related surveillance took place.

''They do not enter church, but that does not mean they don't hang around outside. People are always on alert,'' said a 35-year-old Ghanaian who gave his name only as Ernest.

''Despite the fact that we face difficulties, it does not hinder us from worshipping God.'' Many churches have switched their services to Friday night hoping immigration officials will not be working on the Jewish Sabbath, which runs from sunset on Friday to sunset on Saturday.

HARD TIMES

In the last five years, Israel has deported around 55,000 people deemed illegal workers. Thousands more have left of their own accord. Human rights groups say some have left rather than remain in fear of excessive force.

Israeli officials say repatriation of foreign workers helps reduce the unemployment rate, now at a 10-year low of 7.7 percent. Rights groups say another motive is an attempt to maintain the demographic balance of the Jewish state.

''We are a Jewish state and these people are not Jewish,'' said Sigal Rozen, of the Israeli human rights group Hotline For Migrant Workers, adding that under Israel's Law of Return, only Jews were permitted to immigrate.

Joseph Edelstein, director of the Interior Ministry's Immigration Enforcement Department, declined comment on that, but said the government's aim was to get jobless Israelis back to work.

The construction sector now employs 15,000 foreign workers, down from 20,000 in 2004, he said. ''By October that number will drop to 12,000. Workers will be found from amongst Israelis.'' It is not clear whether Israelis will accept the jobs done by foreign workers, who human rights groups say are often paid less than the minimum wage of 19.28 shekels per hour.

Edelstein said Israel planned to carry out a voluntary repatriation scheme for illegal workers and their families this year. Similar schemes in the past have allowed migrants who register to move freely until their departure.

But many illegal workers are determined to remain in Israel.

''My husband was deported three years ago. But I want to stay here. There is no work back home in Africa,'' said Cynthia Mensah who lives with her eight-year-old son and works as a cleaner.

''Those who left voluntarily from Israel back to Africa are going hungry now,'' she said.

REUTERS