Israel's government has approved a $167m plan to stem the flow of African migrants who cross into the country through its porous border with Egypt .

Announcing the government's intention to increase fines for employers who hire illegal workers, Binyamin Netanyahu, Israel's prime minister, said: "If necesssary, we will close businesses so that the enterprise called the State of Israel will not shut down ."

Speaking on Sunday, Netanyahu said he would make a trip to countries on the African continent where among other issues he will discuss the repatriation of migrants .

Political sources said he was likely to travel to Kenya, Uganda and possibly South Sudan in February next year .

The Israeli government puts the number of illegal workers in the country at more than 52,000 .

Activists however accuse the government of misrepresenting the number of migrants. A large proportion, they say, are legitimate asylum seekers .

Netanyahu said the overwhelming majority of infiltrators are not refugees escaping persecution, but instead have come to Israel seeking better economic opportunities .

Most migrants come from Eritrea and Sudan, and cross into Israel through Egypt's Sinai desert.

Israel is building a fence along its frontier with Egypt to block the migrants .

The government has also announced the construction of detention facilities to hold migrants .

The plan was first announced a year ago and Sunday's cabinet decision freed up government funds to implement it .

"Without a plan to deal with illegal workers, the number of migrants will rise to 100,000 a year," Netanyahu was quoted in a government statement as telling the cabinet .

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The Israeli right have been lobbying for stronger measures to stem the influx of African migrants

Aljazeera