Thailand will recommence sending migrant workers to Israel after an eight-month hiatus.
The Southeast Asian nation paused the flow of workers in the wake of the Oct. 7 Hamas-led attack on Israel. The Thai government reports that 39 of its citizens were killed in the attack and 32 were taken hostage. Thailand estimated six of its citizens are still being held by Hamas.
Prior to the conflict, approximately 30,000 Thais worked in Israel’s agricultural industry. Now, the government plans to send 10,000 workers back to Israel by the end of 2024.
“The government asked for the cooperation of the Israeli government to help emphasize to employers to take care of the safety of Thai workers,” the Thai government said in a statement, per The Jerusalem Post.
The first 100 workers left from Bangkok on June 25. The next group of laborers is set to leave in July. Israel has approved a migration quota of 92,000 in hopes of foreign workers filling in agricultural, hospitality, industry, and agricultural roles.
Thailand’s labor minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn asked Israel earlier this year to raise the quotas for Thai workers. In addition to agricultural workers, the official indicated 20,000 Thai laborers could be recruited to support the Middle Eastern nation’s construction sector.
“During the October 7 Hamas attacks on Israel, Thais suffered some of the worst losses of any nationality other than Israelis,” notes The Nation. “Despite their invisibility, foreign nationals have been vital to Israel’s economy since the government normalized imported labor in the early 1990s. Before October 7, some 149,000 foreign nationals worked in Israel, both legally and illegally.”
“Their labor has been essential to a number of low-wage industries,” the outlet observed. “The large numbers of Thai migrants reflect not only economic pressures within Thailand but a critical shift in Israel’s low-wage workforce, from one heavily composed of Palestinian laborers to one in which foreign workers predominate.”
Thailand’s Department of Employment has been assured by Israel that workers will be employed in safe areas as the conflict with Hamas continues and that evacuation procedures will be established in case of increased instability, reports the Bangkok Post.
Human rights groups have previously raised concerns about Israel’s treatment of agricultural workers.
In 2015, Human Rights Watch accused Israel of abusing migrant workers from Thailand by failing to enforce their own laws. The organization said workers’ experienced “low pay, excessive working hours, hazardous working conditions, and poor housing.”
“The problems persist despite improvements in 2011 to the recruitment process for Thai workers and Israeli laws that set a minimum wage, limit working hours, allow lawful strikes and unionization, and outline standards for workers’ accommodation,” noted HRW. “Human Rights Watch found that the abuses the workers described result primarily from weak enforcement of Israel’s labor laws, which on paper afford migrant workers extensive protection.”
