Israel halts granting visas to UN human rights employees
Israel has stopped granting visas to UN human rights workers, forcing them to stop their work and leave the country, according to a report by Middle East Eye (MEE).
Since June, Israel has ignored visa renewal requests from employees of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and returned their passports unendorsed.
The move has already forced nine of OHCHR's international staff, including Country Director James Heenan, to leave Israel over fears that they would be arrested for staying in the country illegally, said MEE.
The OHCHR's offices in Israel remain open, however, and local staff has not been prevented from working, as usual, MEE confirmed. UN staff around the world are supposed to be granted travel visas automatically to carry out their work.
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