The Pasenkov Family, Karmiel

Ninety-one year old Ksenia Pasenkov came to Israel approximately three years ago to join her only daughter, Valentina, a non-Jew married to a Jewish husband. About a month following her arrival in Israel, when her tourist visa expired, Ksenia's family went to the Karmiel branch of the Ministry of Interior in order to try and resolve her legal civil status. The response of Ministry officials was: Ksenia's visa had expired, therefore she is obliged to leave the country immediately.

After more than two years in which Ksenia resided with her family without a visa, the family approached AMF for assistance. AMF’s involvement, which included publicizing this case in the media, led to the re-initiation of the proceedings that would grant Ksenia a formal civil status through the Ministry of Interior.

Elderly Woman without any Legal Civil Status: “I don’t want to go back to Russia!"

Senior Citizen's Day: Hundreds of non-Jewish senior citizens, whose children are married to Jews, live in Israel without any basic rights. Ksenia Pasenkov, a 91 year old woman from Karmiel, prefers living here illegally to living alone in Russia. She is not entitled to health insurance and suffers from intense pain in her hand. Her daughter notes: "We cannot keep up with paying privately for her medical expenses".

By Miri Hason

Published on Ynet, Israel’s most popular news website

October 17th, 2006