2018, the Number of Irregular Migrants Returned to Their Countries of Origin Has Been Only Slightly Higher Than the Number of Mi

DIPLOMATIC AND PARLIAMENTARY PRACTICE 529

2018, the number of irregular migrants returned to their countries of origin has been only slightly higher than the number of migrants returned in 2017 under the previous Government.61 Ch iara Tea Antonia z z i

XIV. COOPERATION IN JUDICIAL, LEGAL, SECURITY, AND SOCIOECONOMIC MATTERS

Th e Th reatened Demolition o f t h e Kh an al -Ah mar “Ru b b er Tire Sc h ool ” in t h e Occ u pied Palestinian Territory

The Khan al-Ahmar community is located in the West Bank, near the road that connects Jerusalem to the city of Jericho and the Dead Sea and not far from the Israeli settlements that rise to the east of the Holy City.62 Its 180 inhabitants (35 Bedouin families) belong to the tribal group Jahalin, originating from Tel Arad, in southern Israel. Members of this clan were expelled by the Israeli army in 1951 and had to relocate in what was then a territory under the control of Jordan. Nowadays, their lands are formally located within the so-called Area C of the Occupied Palestinian Territories, which, under the Oslo Accords, is admin- istered by Israel, and in particular on corridor E1, an area considered strategic for controlling the territory up to Jericho and for the expansion of the settlements. Families are extremely poor and live in temporary structures built without permits from the Israeli authorities, often funded by European countries. Villages are not connected to electricity, roads and the sewage system. They lack health and education infrastructures. Scattered in the area of Khan al-Ahmar live twelve Palestinian communities with roughly 1,400 inhabitants. The so-called “Rubber Tire School”, located in Khan al-Ahmar, serves 150 children from five different communities. The Italian NGO Terra di Vento established it in 2009 with an in- novative project using mud and tires. Together with other infrastructures, it was funded by Italy, Belgium and the European Union. Over the years, the Israeli authorities have confiscated and demolished exist- ing facilities and issued several demolition orders to the detriment of the Bedouin communities of the Jerusalem area. As documented by the Israeli NGO B’Tselem, “from 2006 until the end of May 2018, 26 residential structures were demolished.

61 “Migranti, a che punto siamo con i rimpatri?”, Sky TG24, 25 February 2019, available at: . 62 See “Unwanted by Israel and the PA, Bedouin have nowhere to go but ‘up in the air’”, Times of Israel, 9 March 2018, available at: ; see also Amnesty International, “Israel: Illegal demolition and forcible transfer of Palestinian Bedouin village amounts to war crime”, 1 June 2018, available at: .

132 people were left without shelter, of which 77 were children and teenagers. In addition, 7 non-residential structures were demolished”.63 Several petitions were filed with the High Court of Justice in favor or against the demolition orders. The Israeli settlers petitioned the Court to have the demolition orders implemented, whereas the Palestinian communities tried to resist de- portation. In this respect, the position of the Israeli Government is that the Khan al-Ahmar buildings were established without any permits and that residents have been offered an alternative location where the school would be reconstructed.64 On 28 May 2018, the Israeli High Court confirmed that the Government might demolish the homes of the residents of Khan al-Ahmar and the school.65 On 4 July the Israeli civil administration started implementing the expulsion of the residents and the demolition of the buildings, but a subsequent petition to the Court froze the process. With a temporary injunction, the Court invited the parties to reach an agreement. The Government then insisted on the immediate relocation of the Palestinian community to a site in Abu Dis, near a garbage dump.66 The Palestinian community refused the proposed solution and continued resisting to the expulsion and the destruction of their homes. During 2018, the facts of Khan al-Ahmar produced strong international reac- tions. The United Nations Special Envoy for Middle East, the European Union, and single EU countries such as the United Kingdom, France, Belgium, and Ireland described the proposed demolition as a breach of Israel’s obligations under international law and international humanitarian law more specifically.67 Specific

63 “Communities facing expulsion: The Khan al-Ahmar area”, B’tselem, 10 October 2017 (Updated: 5 September 2018), available at: . 64 “Israel Tells High Court: Bedouin in Unauthorized West Bank Village Will Be Evacuated by Mid-2018”, Haaretz, 25 September 2017, available at: . 65 “Khan al-Ahmar: Israel court approves demolition of Bedouin village”, BBC News, 5 September 2018, available at: . 66 “State Takes Preparatory Steps Ahead of West Bank Bedouin Village’s Demolition”, Haaretz, 2 July 2018, available at: . 67 “European Countries Slam Impending Demolition of West Bank Bedouin Village: ‘We’ll Take Action’”, Haaretz, 5 July 2018, available at: . See, for instance, the position expressed on 1 June 2018 by the Foreign Secretary of the United Kingdom, Mr Boris Johnson, who urged “Israel not to proceed” and recalled that “Palestinians have found it virtually impossible to obtain building permits in Area C of the West Bank”. He then highlighted that “[t]he UN has said that the proposed demolitions could amount to ‘forcible transfer’, in violation of International Humanitarian Law”. He finally expressed his con- cern over “plans to construct over 3,100 new settlement units”, highlighting that “[m]any are located deep within the West Bank; one is a site beside Khan al-Ahmar” and that “[s]ettlement activity is contrary to international law, promotes the de facto annexation of the West Bank, and takes us further away from a negotiated two-state solution”, available at: . See also the statement of 14 September 2018 by the Belgian Deputy Prime Ministers Mr Alexander De Croo and Mr Didier Reynders: “[…] the destruction of infrastructure and housing in the West Bank, an oc-