The Israeli government on Tuesday announced that it was abandoning its plan to forcibly deport African migrants who entered the country illegally.
The Benjamin Netanyahu administration in January gave the migrants three months to take the voluntary deal with a plane ticket and $3,500 or risk being jailed until they are deported.
Israel says the 37,000 migrants in Israel are job seekers and that it has every right to protect its borders. The migrants and rights groups say they are seeking asylum and are fleeing war and persecution.
Earlier this month, about 200 African migrants jailed following a breakdown in a deal with Rwanda and Uganda were released following a court order.
About 4,000 migrants have left Israel for Rwanda and Uganda since 2013 under a voluntary programme, but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has come under pressure from his right-wing voter base to expel thousands more.
The government now says it would continue exploring options to deport the migrants voluntarily, but their forced removal “is no longer on the agenda.”
