The Zoning and Building Committee approved this week the Defense Ministry's emergency plan to build more than 16,000 housing units for infiltrators arriving in Israel via the Egyptian border. According to the plan, which the Defense Ministry drafted at the behest of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the infiltrators will initially be housed in tents which will be replaced with permanent trailers. The trailer construction is to be carried out by the Defense Ministry and will be finished in the coming months. Defense Ministry Deputy Director-General and Head of Operations and Logistics Betzalel Treiber stated that the goal was to have the infiltrators reside in the housing compound in the long term, instead of them moving to Israeli cities. Until the construction is complete, infiltrators who cross the border will stay at the Saharonim facility, and not be transfered to south Tel Aviv as the government previously instructed. The new directive comes on the heels' of Netanyahu's initiative to return illegal infiltrators from South Sudan and the Ivory Coast in Israel to their home countries and to prevent a further influx of immigrants in the Tel Aviv and Eilat areas. According to the Defense Ministry plan, there will be 4 square meters (43 square feet) to house each infiltrator. For every square meter of residences there will be a square meter of public structures. The U.N. recommends 3.3 square meters (35 sq. ft.) for each person. The plan also includes professional workshops and seminars, educational and medical facilities, kitchens, barbers as well as a compound for officials from the Israel Prison Service and Interior Ministry who will run the facilities. A Defense Ministry source stated that with regards to sewage services in the compound, the ministry is working with the Ramat Negev Regional Council. The plan is to widen and upgrade the regional sewage system for the time being, and plans are underway for the construction of an advanced waste purification plant nearby the compound. The waste purification plant will serve agricultural purposes in the region as well, and will be a permanent fixture there. The plant will take an estimated 2-3 years to be built. The Defense Ministry source said the sanitation plans were approved in coordination with the Health Ministry as a temporary solution for residents of the compound. Meanwhile, there was a marked rise this week in the number of South Sudanese infiltrators signed a document saying they agreed to leave Israel voluntarily. Last week the number of illegal immigrants arrested as part of the enforcement of the new immigration law was similar to the number of infiltrators leaving voluntarily. By comparison, this week, many illegal residents requested to leave by their own free will. There are currently about 600 illegal infiltrators who have signed a document pledging to leave Israel. Of the 600, 500 are from South Sudan and are waiting for a flight to take them back. In response to the increase in numbers of those wanting to leave voluntarily, booths have been set up in the southern cities of Arad and Eilat to process their requests.
