TY - JOUR
T1 - “Now I am also Israeli”
T2 - From Illegality to Legality - Life experiences and identities of migrant workers’ children after receiving civil status in Israel
AU - Babis, Deby
AU - Lifszyc-Friedlander, Anabel
AU - Sabar, Galia
N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2017 The Authors. International Migration © 2017 IOM
PY - 2018/6
Y1 - 2018/6
N2 - In 2006 and 2010, following demands from local and international civil society organizations, Israel granted civil status to approximately 1500 undocumented migrant workers’ children. This was considered a “one time humanitarian gesture,” not to be repeated. Thousands of other children, who did not fulfill the required criteria, were left without civil status. Within the context of Israel, the homeland of the Jewish people, this mixed-methods study explored how the children's life experiences have been constructed and reconstructed since the inception of their new civil status. According to the findings, 80 per cent of migrant workers’ children reveal a high degree of belonging to Israeli society, defining themselves as Israelis. For them, receiving civil status has four practical implications: being able to serve in the Israeli army; the ability to travel abroad; better access to the job market; and freedom from fear of deportation. Our study also revealed difficulties due to their religious and ethnic identities, reflected in the children's understandings of what it means to be Israeli. The complex manifestations of their newly acquired civil status is embedded in the concept of “freedom,” i.e. to do and to be what they really want to be.
AB - In 2006 and 2010, following demands from local and international civil society organizations, Israel granted civil status to approximately 1500 undocumented migrant workers’ children. This was considered a “one time humanitarian gesture,” not to be repeated. Thousands of other children, who did not fulfill the required criteria, were left without civil status. Within the context of Israel, the homeland of the Jewish people, this mixed-methods study explored how the children's life experiences have been constructed and reconstructed since the inception of their new civil status. According to the findings, 80 per cent of migrant workers’ children reveal a high degree of belonging to Israeli society, defining themselves as Israelis. For them, receiving civil status has four practical implications: being able to serve in the Israeli army; the ability to travel abroad; better access to the job market; and freedom from fear of deportation. Our study also revealed difficulties due to their religious and ethnic identities, reflected in the children's understandings of what it means to be Israeli. The complex manifestations of their newly acquired civil status is embedded in the concept of “freedom,” i.e. to do and to be what they really want to be.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85031682648&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - https://doi.org/10.1111/imig.12367
DO - https://doi.org/10.1111/imig.12367
M3 - مقالة
SN - 0020-7985
VL - 56
SP - 173
EP - 185
JO - International Migration
JF - International Migration
IS - 3
ER -