By Enyichukwu Enemanna
No fewer than 45 Malawians may be deported from Israel for fleeing their work stations in farms and relocating to city centres to hunt for other jobs.
The fleeing workers were arrested on Thursday at a confectionery factory in Tel Aviv, just a fortnight after Malawi and Israel signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to guide the labour export to Israeli farms.
The president of Malawi Society in Israel, Austin Chipeta, told reporters that the 45 persons were arrested by immigration officers in the early hours after receiving a tip off that the compound where they reside was known for keeping deserters.
The group, which fled Arava and Lion farms, is being kept at a maximum security prison in South Tel Aviv, near Shapira neighbourhood pending deportation, Chipeta stated.
Their contract agreement does not permit them to work elsewhere while holding employment as farmers, Chipeta further said, noting that same is indicated in their visas.
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He attributed their desertion to seeking greener pastures elsewhere. He said: “The main reason that they have been abandoning their work is that most farmers are not respecting contractual obligations. For example, if they agreed 30 shekels per hour, some farmers would have been paying 25 or 20 shekels.
“Salaries in the farms are much lower. Other jobs, for example, in the manufacturing industry where they run to are paying around 40 shekels per hour. As a leader I took it upon myself to talk to them [workers] to return to the farms but they would not listen.”
Chipeta said the farmers, who facilitated the labour deal felt betrayed because they paid for air tickets and $500 for five months visa for each of the workers.
“The farmers say they do not need them [workers] anymore. But I am still talking to some of them to accept those that are still out there, but willing to return to the farms,” he said.
Malawi and Israel had last month signed a new deal for Malawi to send unskilled labourers to Israel. The agreement is a departure from a previous arrangement where nearly 1,000 labourers were sent to work in Israel through private labor agents. Malawi officials say the new deal will help address challenges workers were facing under the previous arrangement.
Heritage Times reports that Africa has been the major supply source for Israeli farmers in search of workers. Uganda, Tanzania and Kenya have shipped unskilled labour force to Israel.
Israel has been witnessing drop in the number of persons interest to work in farms, a shortage that has been attributed to around 360,000 Israeli reservists who were called up for military service since the start of conflict with Hamas.
Palestinian workers, constituting nearly 20% of the agricultural labour force, have been barred since the Oct 7 crisis broke out.
Israel’s agriculture ministry had stated that there was need to recruit about 30-40,000 farm workers.
Tanzanian nationals Joshua Mollel and Clemence Mtenga who were among 260 Tanzanian students who went to Israel for internship in agriculture-related programmes were killed at the start of war October last year.
