Uganda may take migrants from Israel

Illegal migrants from Eritrea walk in the street in a southern district of the Israeli city of Tel Aviv on April 5, 2018. (AFP)

• 4,000 migrants have left Israel for Rwanda and Uganda since 2013
• Israel started handing out notices to male migrants from Eritrea and Sudan

KAMPALA: Uganda is considering a request from Israel to take in 500 migrants from Eritrea and Sudan, a minister said on Friday, the first time the East African nation has acknowledged it is in talks over such a deal.
About 4,000 migrants have left Israel for Rwanda and Uganda since 2013 under a voluntary program but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has come under pressure from his right-wing voter base to expel thousands more. In January, Israel started handing out notices to male migrants from Eritrea and Sudan, giving them three months to take the voluntary deal with a plane ticket and $3,500 or risk being thrown in jail.
The government said from April it would start forced deportations.