Russia-Ukraine war: Israel 'turning away' refugees, says Kyiv envoy
Israel is turning away Ukrainians "even after the outbreak of war", Kyiv's ambassador in Tel Aviv said on Monday, according to newspaper Haaretz.
Yevgen Korniychuk said Ukrainians arriving in Israel have been asked to prove that they don't intend to resettle there "so that they don't turn into illegal residents or refugees".
He urged Israeli authorities to make exceptions for Ukrainian refugees like other countries have.
"This is not acceptable. Hungary, Poland and Slovakia have allowed hundreds of thousands of our citizens to enter without papers. This is absolutely insane," he added.
In the wake of the invasion, Israeli authorities announced new measures to accommodate Ukrainian refugees.
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Ayelet Shaked, Israeli minister of interior, said earlier this week that Ukrainians coming into the country by an invitation from an Israeli citizen will be "asked to sign a pledge not to settle in the country and will have to deposit a guarantee fee".
Others coming without an invitation "will enter as tourists, [provided] there is no suspicion that they plan to settle in Israel, and they will enter."
Shaked added that she would uniformly extend the visas of Ukrainian tourists who are in the country by two months.
Israel is also working to facilitate the immigration of Ukrainian Jews, but Korniychuk urged authorities to allow non-Jewish Ukrainians to enter Israel as well for the duration of the conflict.
If a Ukrainian were to fly directly to Tel Aviv, they would be considered a refugee and would be allowed in, an Israeli official told Haaretz.
However, Ukrainian skies have been closed to air traffic and refugees are leaving on land to neighbouring countries. If a refugee who made it out of Ukraine tried to then fly to Israel, they would not be accepted as a refugee, Haaretz reported.
On Monday, the embassy asked Israel in a Facebook statement to "step up its support for Ukraine and keep [its] borders open to refugees seeking shelter."
Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine began on Thursday, more than 660,000 people, mostly women and children, have fled the country, the UN said on Tuesday.
The UN's refugee agency estimated one million people had been displaced inside Ukraine.
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