JERUSALEM, March 15 (Xinhua) -- Israel's top court on Thursday temporarily suspended a deportation plan of thousands of Eritrean and Sudanese asylum seekers following petitions by human rights groups.

The petitions were filed in an effort to stop a government plan to deport the asylum seekers to Africa.

In its decision, the Supreme Court said the state should respond by March 26 and provide further details about the plan. Until that deadline, the plan is suspended, the court said.

The plan was first announced by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in January. Under the plan, migrants who entered the county without permits would be given a choice between leaving voluntarily to an unnamed "third country" in Africa or face indefinite imprisonment before they would be forced to leave. Women, as well as children and their parents, would be excluded from the plan.

Official figures released by the Interior Ministry show some 42,000 African migrants currently live in Israel.

Human rights groups say the refugees will face life danger if the plan is implemented.