The Israeli Population and Immigration Authority announced yesterday that 1,000 South Sudanese asylum-seekers are losing their collective protection and either their leave by the end of March or they will be deported.
The authority said it would give every departing South Sudanese citizen a 1,300-dollar grant to ease his or her return home, Haaretz website reported.Critics called the move premature, inappropriate and dangerous.
Sharon Harel, the representative of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees in Israel, said South Sudanese citizens must have full access to the determination of refugee status on a case-by-case basis if they want.
He added that if such access is not made possible, it will contravene the refugees convention Israel signed.