When it comes to children, the passage of time has a special significance. In Justice Roth-Levy's report, following Israel's accession to the Convention, it was emphasized that it was necessary to ensure that the treatment and actions regarding children were carried out over a structured and systematic sequence of actions, which also took into account, among other things, the motif of time in a child's life and the importance of adhering to schedules that correspond to his development.
In the case before us, the delay in handling the appellants' case on time, and taking into account the motif of time in a child's life, severely harms the children in two respects. First, throughout all those years, the children have been under the cloud of deportation, which, as appears from the opinion in their case cited above, significantly harms them. Second, since the first years of development are years in which the child's personality is formed, the children develop connections and anchors that are difficult to develop at a later stage. knots and anchors, from which the children's disconnection may harm their proper development. I will discuss this below.
The uncertainty -
- As noted, the very fact that the children are candidates for deportation and their fate is unclear causes them, in itself, serious problems. In a position paper by researchers in the field of mental health, Ido Luria et al., on the subject: "Mental and Psychosocial Implications of the Deportation of Children Born in Israel to Migrant Workers" (2019, can be viewed in https://hotline.org.il/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/%D7%99%D7%9C%D7%93%D7%99-%D7%9E%D7%91%D7%A7%D7%A9%D7%99-%D7%9E%D7%A7%D7%9C%D7%98-%D7%91%D7%90%D7%A8%D7%A5-%D7%95%D7%91%D7%A2%D7%95%D7%9C%D7%9D-%D7%99%D7%95%D7%A0%D7%99-2022-1.pdf (hereinafter: Luria, position paper), it was noted on the matter. This (p. 3):
"The conditions necessary for the proper development of children and the maintenance of their mental well-being include a safe and stable environment that allows the child to experience basic security, belonging and protection. Preventing any of these factors harms the normal development of any child or adolescent. Children up to the age of 18 are in complex stages of developing and establishing their personality, abilities and resilience. Therefore, children and adolescents are characterized by a higher level of psychological vulnerability when exposed to stressors."