JERUSALEM: A Jerusalem court has ordered the Israeli interior ministry to shelve a threatened Oct. 15 roundup of illegal migrants from Sudan, pending a ruling on their requests for asylum.
"I find it right at this stage to issue a temporary injunction according to which, until decided otherwise, citizens of the Republic of Sudan will not be placed in custody," judge Nava Ben-Or wrote in Thursday's ruling, a copy of which was sent to AFP.
She set a fresh court hearing for Oct. 30.
Israeli Interior Minister Eli Yishai had warned in August that Sudanese illegals who did not leave the country by Oct. 15 would be detained.
"Infiltrators from Sudan have until Oct. 15 to leave Israel, after which date they will be placed in detention," Yishai said in a statement, adding that he had Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's approval for the plan.
Israel began expelling South Sudanese in June, after Yishai ruled that they were no longer at risk in their newly-independent homeland but at first made no move against those from its northern neighbor.
The Jewish state, which reportedly backed South Sudan through its 1983-2005 war with Khartoum, recognized the new nation and established full diplomatic relations with its government shortly after it declared independence in July last year.
Israel orders delay in migrant roundup
