Israel to free 200 African migrants awaiting deportation

African migrants wait in line for the opening of the Population and Immigration Authority office in Bnei Brak, Israel February 4, 2018. [Photo by Reuters]

Israel will release about 200 jailed African migrants in the absence of a final deal to deport them and thousands more Eritrean and Sudanese men who entered the country illegally, the Interior Ministry said on Sunday.

The government has been trying to finalize an agreement with Uganda to take in the migrants, who came into Israel on foot through the Egyptian border over the past decade.