The government must do more to address the inadequate mental health services available to new immigrant children, Labor MK Gilad Kariv told a meeting of the Knesset’s Immigration, Absorption and Diaspora Committee on Monday.

Ministries must prepare to collaborate and share information to provide more comprehensive support to immigrant children in distress, said Kariv, who chairs the committee.

More than 5,500 new immigrant children are considered at risk, a representative of the Welfare and Social Affairs Ministry told the committee. In total, some 23,000 immigrants receive assistance from the ministry, including more than 19,000 minors, on a budget of NIS 66 million ($20 million).

New immigrants are generally seen as being more vulnerable to mental health risks because they often struggle with language barriers, social isolation, and cultural adjustment, in addition to the traumas of Israel’s 23-month war against Hamas.

Present at the meeting was Elena Bobkova, whose 13-year-old daughter, Milena, died by suicide in August after jumping from the roof of a building in Rishon Lezion.

Bobkova described her daughter’s last days. She had been........

© The Times of Israel