Benjamin Netanyahu backs out of asylum-seeker deal

Israeli PM had agreed to grant some refugees residency while sending others to Germany and Canada

African asylum seekers protest against forced deportation in Israel
African asylum seekers protest against forced deportation in Israel
(Image credit: This content is subject to copyright.)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has suspended a deal struck with the United Nations refugee agency to resettle or give residency to thousands of African asylum seekers, just hours after news of the plan was made public.

Under the five-year deal, around 16,000 Eritrean and Sudanese asylum seekers currently in Israel who were facing prison or deportation would have been sent to countries including Germany, Italy and Canada.

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