'Opportunity:' Officials Explain Why Young Malawians Go to Work on Israeli Farms Amid Gaza Conflict
18:14 06.12.2023 (Updated: 18:21 06.12.2023)
© AP Photo / OBED ZILWA
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Last week, Malawi's Ministry of Labor said that several hundred young Malawians have been sent to Israel to work on farms left vacant by the ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestinian movement Hamas. The first batch of Malawian workers traveled on November 26, with plans to send more in the near future as part of a new labor export program.
Since the latest round in the long-standing Middle East conflict began on October 7, Israeli farms have witnessed a departure of thousands of workers. Among these were foreign workers who returned to their respective home countries and Palestinians from Gaza, who had their Israeli work permits revoked in the aftermath of the conflict.
A labor export agreement between Malawi and Israel raised questions, addresed to the East African country's government, regarding the safety of Malawian workers, who travel to Israel amid the ongoing conflict between the Jewish state and Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
Sputnik Africa spoke to Malawian officials to clarify the government's position and motives behind the timing of the labor export program, which has been criticized by Malawi's opposition leader Kondwani Nankhumwa as an "evil transaction".
"We do look at all these as two sides of a coin," Moses Kunkuyu, Malawi's Minister of Information and Digitalization and Government Spokesperson, told Sputnik Africa. "It's sad that there is a conflict where lives are being lost, but where there are these conflicts, there is also an opportunity, and calling it an opportunity or going for the opportunity does not mean you disregard the negative side of it."
Minister Kunkuyu argued that the government of Malawi has labor agreements with many countries around the world, including Qatar, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Kuwait, and countries on the African continent such as South Africa, Botswana, and Zimbabwe. The goal, he said, is to address the problem of youth unemployment in Malawi.
"When our governments have negotiated, or they have gone into arrangements with other governments where there are labor opportunities, we have been going to countries to provide labor, which has been to the benefit of both, the recipient country and ourselves, economically," the government spokesperson said.
Kunkuyu added that Malawian labor power was sought during preparations for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa and the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, and "all went well."
"This time around, an opportunity has arisen in Israel and Malawians are going to work there," he said.
The minister emphasized the financial and diplomatic benefits of the labor export program with Israel for both the workers and the East African country, despite the security risks posed by the ongoing Middle East conflict involving the Jewish state.
He argued that exported Malawian workers are expected not only to "reinvest the skills they have obtained," but also to "reinvest the money they have earned," which will benefit both their families and the country.
"They are going to work for a pay," Minister Kunkuyu stated. "We provide labor, people work, they get their wages, they develop their families, and we build strong relations with other countries."
A similar point of view was shared by George A. K. Khaki, Executive Director at Employers Consultative Association of Malawi (ECAM), which is the most representative employers' organization in Malawi.
"The objective of this bilateral labor agreement is to send our people to Israel to work in the farms over there. I think along the way we are creating jobs for Malawians, especially our youth, whose unemployment rate is high in their country," Khaki told Sputnik Africa. "We should also look at this from the perspective of gaining skills."
The two Malawian officials noted that agriculture is the backbone of their country's economy, while countries like Israel have "advanced technologies in the field of agriculture."
The ECAM executive director said that in the long run, with the return of the exported farmers, Malawi "will stand to gain from this and improve its agricultural status and technologies."
"There is a shift from the way agriculture has been practiced traditionally to more modernized ways of doing agriculture, and countries like Israel are advanced in terms of modern technologies and modern ways of agriculture. So we know that there will be skill transfers," Minister Kunkuyu said,
Regarding the safety of the Malawian workers in Israel, the officials said that there has been not negative feedback yet from those young men who travelled to the Middle Eastern country under the labor export agreement.
Minister Kunkuyu claimed that the Malawians were "happy" working in Israel, adding that their safety has been guaranteed by the Israeli side.
"The same kind of security that is being accorded to Israeli citizens, we have been assured that it's the same kind of security and necessities that is being offered to the Malawians that are going to work there," the minister said.
He stressed that the government of Malawi did not engage in a campaign to "forcefully recruit young people" to go to the conflict zone, but that they "willingly came forward" and sought the opportunity to be recruited to work on Israeli farms abandoned after the escalation in the Middle East began.
On October 7, the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas launched a surprise large-scale rocket attack on Israel from the Gaza Strip, breaching the border and killing and taking captives in nearby Israeli military sites and communities. The movement said its operation, Al-Aqsa Flood, was in response to "Israeli provocations and occupation of Palestinian territories".
Israel launched retaliatory strikes and ordered a complete blockade of the Gaza Strip, home to more than 2 million people, cutting off supplies of water, food and fuel. On October 27, Israel launched a large-scale ground incursion into Gaza, ostensibly to eliminate Hamas fighters and rescue captives.
Later, Qatar mediated a deal between Israel and Hamas on a temporary truce and the exchange of some of the prisoners and hostages, as well as the delivery of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip. The truce was extended several times, but on Friday, the fighting resumed.
According to the official information from the warring sides, the escalation of the conflict has resulted in the deaths of more than 1,300 people in Israel and more than 16,000, including more than 6,000 children, in Gaza. Meanwhile, at least 256 Palestinians have died as a result of Israeli violence in the West Bank.
