| New Problems with Family Reunification in Jerusalem The new policy of family reunification and visa/visit permits announced by the Interior Ministry in spring 1994, has - for the first time - made husbands of East Jerusalem residents eligible for family reunification and allowed them to stay in the city while their applications are pending (see ARTICLE 74/8-9;10). While it is true that several non-resident husbands have since been granted family reunification, human rights organizations will now have to tackle the problem of those whose applications are rejected. As in the past, criteria for applications are not published and not detectable from the Interior Ministry’s answers which seem to depend mainly on the whim (“discretion” in Israeli legal language) of the official in charge.
The problem is serious, because these husbands - usually the main income providers - cut all their ties abroad (left their homes, stopped work) when the new policy finally offered them the opportunity to stay with their wives in Jerusalem. Once their application for family reunification is refused, in many cases more than one year after their arrival to the city, they have no place to go, and the family is faced with yet another crisis. |
