Go home or go to jail: Israel pressures African migrants to leave

Israel is offering illegal immigrants $3,500 and a one-way ticket home as it begins to crack  down on refugees, who face prison if they don’t take up the deal. Rights groups are appalled  at the move, saying Israel should be doing more to protect them. Israel says the tough move is necessary to send a message to migrants that making the  journey is not worthwhile in the first place. As deterrents it has built a steel fence along the border with Egypt, houses migrants in a detention camp in the middle of a desert,  and has stopped issuing work permits to deter would-be migrants. Israel was founded by refugees and continues to welcome Jews from around the world who  wish to relocate there. During the 1990s over a million Jews from the former Soviet Union  crossed the welcome mat. Jews from Ethiopia have also looked to settle in Israel, however, they have not had an easy  time of things in trying to start a new life. On Tuesday, hundreds of Ethiopian Jews rallied peacefully against the discrimination and  racism they claim they are experiencing. This followed a national outcry after a video  emerged of an Israeli man of Ethiopian descent being beaten by police. Read More at RT