Thousands of African migrants demand rights in protest outside Israel's parliament

JERUSALEM – Thousands of African migrants are demanding to be recognized as refugees in a protest outside Israel's parliament.

Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld says more than 10,000 migrants rallied outside the Knesset on Wednesday, with hundreds more arriving from around the country.

This week has seen two other protests in Tel Aviv by the migrants, who are demanding the right to work and better treatment from the Israeli government.

Tens of thousands of migrants, most from Eritrea and Sudan, have come to Israel in recent years, either to flee conflict or to seek employment.

The migrants say Israel has dragged its feet on reviewing their requests for refugee status. Israel sees them as economic migrants and has built a fence to stop their influx from neighboring Egypt.