Police, gov't not doing enough to find missing Haymanot Kasau - family

While police are working to find Haymanot Kasau, the 10-year-old who has been missing for nearly a year, they are not doing enough, her father, Tesfaye Kasau, told the Knesset's Immigration, Absorption and Diaspora Affairs Committee on Monday.“There is intelligence information that our family is passing on to the police, but they are checking it after a significant delay,” he said.“Changing her status from missing to kidnapped would expand the resources police could dedicate to finding Haymanot,” her father said.MK Tsega Melaku also emphasized that Haymanot should be classified as someone who was kidnapped, rather than missing.Melaku also touched on racial elements of the case, in which a young Ethiopian girl is missing, saying that “the country would be quaking if a different girl had been kidnapped.” MK Oded Forer leads the committee for Immigration, Absorption and Diaspora Affairs on the disappearance of 9-year-old Haymanot Kasau at the Knesset, the Israeli parliament in Jerusalem. (credit: YONATAN SINDEL/FLASH90)She added that there is “a big crisis of trust between the Ethiopian community and Israel Police and the slow actions being taken in the investigation of the case are only adding to the divide.”Police representatives assured the committee that all information related to the case is examined and that the police consider the case a top priority.According to police, 60-70 actions related to the search have been taken in the past two months. Unfortunately, they have not turned up the information.The representatives emphasized efforts to work with the Kasau family, saying that an officer who speaks Amharic has been attached to the family to translate for them.“We are working with the necessary empathy with the family,” said Superintendent Amir Smaniya, who also said he met with the family last month.“Upon receiving the report of Haymanot Kasau's disappearance, Israel Police officers immediately initiated extensive search operations alongside an ongoing investigation, utilizing a variety of investigative methods and tools. As is customary, no further details will be provided regarding the ongoing investigation or the specifics of the actions taken. However, we emphasize that every lead and piece of information is being thoroughly examined with the full range of resources available to Israel Police to locate her,” police said on Tuesday.Tesfaye also highlighted the responsibility of the Jewish Agency and the Aliyah and Integration Ministry, saying that they, too, are not doing enough.“Pictures of my daughter with a hotline for providing information should be spread everywhere until she is found,” he said.Forer calls for governmental committee to be formedMK Oded Forer, the committee's chair, said that he asked Immigration and Absorption Minister Ofir Sofer to form a governmental committee that will examine the handling of the case since her disappearance.He also called for an additional public campaign that would aim to turn up more information about the case, calling a previous campaign insufficient and a failure by the ministry to invest sufficient funds.The family and supporters will gather for a protest and prayer rally at the Knesset in two weeks to mark a year since the girl's disappearance.Haymanot, who lived in the absorption center in Safed, was last seen in February, 2024, when security footage showed her at the center's entrance wearing a pink sweatshirt, a black skirt, and white sneakers.

Police, gov't not doing enough to find missing Haymanot Kasau - family

"There is intelligence information that our family is passing on to the police, but they are checking it after a significant delay," Kasau's father said.

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Police, gov't not doing enough to find missing Haymanot Kasau - family

"There is intelligence information that our family is passing on to the police, but they are checking it after a significant delay," Kasau's father said.

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