Israel hastens Ethiopia migration

Falash Mura community members protest in Jerusalem

The Israeli government has announced plans to bring the last 20,000 members of Ethiopia's Falash Mura community to Israel by the end of 2007.

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has decided to double the monthly rate of immigration to 600 people.

As Mr Sharon met Immigration Minister Tzipi Livni, members of the Falash Mura protested in front of his office.

The demonstrators demanded that relatives be allowed to join them in Israel immediately.

The Falash Mura say they are descended from Ethiopian Jews forced to convert to Christianity in the 19th Century.

Upon arrival in Israel, the Falash Mura undergo conversion to Judaism, after which they are entitled to all the benefits of new immigrants under the Law of Return.

Poorest in society

The immigration of the Falash Mura has been controversial in Israel.

It is alleged that some Ethiopians are claiming to be Falash Mura in the hope of being allowed into Israel where they can expect a far higher standard of living.

During the mid-1980s and early 1990s thousands of Ethiopian Jews were airlifted to Israel. More than 80,000 now live in Israel and they are one of the poorest sections of society.

According to the Jewish Agency, a quasi-governmental body that manages immigration to Israel and the settlement of immigrants, it costs the state an average of about $100,000 to bring over and settle each Falash Mura immigrant.

Since the early 1990s, members of the Falash Mura have been gathering in holding camps in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, awaiting permission to come to Israel.

Conditions at the camps are believed to be very difficult.

Ethiopian immigrants settled in Israel have called for the speeding up of immigration because of what they see as the suffering of their relatives.