The Israeli government has issued a two-month ultimatum warning African migrants to leave the country by the end of March or risk being jailed if they refuse.

The country’s immigration authority spokeswoman, Sabina Haddad said its officials had started issuing migrants with letters on Sunday reminding them that they had 60 days to voluntarily leave the country.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had on January 3 announced the implementation of a plan to deport about 38,000 migrants mostly Eritreans and Sudanese who had entered the country illegally.

The ultimatum  however exempts those who have been recognized as victims of slavery or human trafficking and those who had requested asylum by the end of 2017 but have not received a response from the government.

Haddad said the authority is offering those who agree to leave a grant of $3,500, a flight ticket and assistance in obtaining travel documents. She however added that should the migrants refuse to leave before the end of the deadline, the grant will be reduced and enforcement measures taken against them and anyone employing them.

Besides the publication of a petition by the survivors of the Holocaust pleading to Netanyahu to reconsider the decision, the United Nations refugee agency has also called on the Israeli government to scrap the plan, describing it as incoherent and unsafe.