Foreign women who have been traded as prostitutes or employed by force under harsh conditions are permitted to remain in Israel to work for one year, Interior Minister Roni Bar-On said Wednesday.

Bar-On told the committee against the trade of women that the ministry has been ordered to override any bureaucratic procedures previously followed when issuing visas to victims of human trafficking.

The decision was made in response to a petition submitted by committee chairman MK Zahava Gal-On (Meretz) calling on the government to prevent human trafficking and grant victim humanitarian asylum in Israel.

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According to the committee, Israel deported some 500 victims of human traficking in the last year.