Israel’s foreign ministry recommended Thursday that the Interior Ministry extend the protection from deportation collectively afforded to refugees from South Sudan by an additional six months. On Sunday, April 1, the collective protection for the citizens of the new nation is set to expire. This would mean that any South Sudanese citizen that will not leave ion his or her own accord will be deported.

In addition to this recommendation by the foreign ministry, the Jerusalem District Court issued an injunction forbidding any deportation of South Sudanese nationals before April 15. The state has until that date to respond to a petition by aid organizations against the Interior Ministry’s decision not to extend the collective protection.

A senior Foreign Ministry official said that the recommendation to extend the collective protection for the South Sudanese for another six month is due to the fact that the conditions for their return haven’t yet matured – not on the part of Israel and not on the part of South Sudan.

“The arrangements required for the return have yet to be completed and more time is required to coordinate the arrangements with the government of South Sudan,” the source said.

Go to Haaretz.com

This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.

We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news this Passover. All donations are being matched by the Forward Board - up to $100,000.

This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.

With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give this Passover is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.

The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.

Don't just read the Forward - invest in it. Make a matched gift today.

Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

$120 $180 $360 OTHER AMOUNT