Israel has closed a desert detention center for migrants as part of a controversial plan for the mass expulsion of thousands of Eritreans and Sudanese who entered the country illegally, officials said Thursday.

According to interior ministry figures, there are currently some 42,000 African migrants in Israel, half of them children, women or men with families, who are not facing immediate deportation.

Migrants began entering Israel through what was then a porous Egyptian border in 2007 .

Israel's deportation or imprisonment plan has drawn criticism from the United Nations refugee agency as well as from some Israelis and rights activists.

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