Israel Is Recruiting Workers from Africa to Keep Its Economy Afloat
In November, Malawi’s President Lazarus Chakwera announced an austerity program to confront his country’s economic crisis, including a freeze on foreign travel for himself and other top officials. That same month, the IMF approved a $174 million Extended Credit Facility for Malawi. Almost immediately afterward—strikingly—Israel offered a $60 million assistance package to “support” Malawi’s economy. How and why did Israel extend such support while pouring its own financial and military resources—backed by the United States—into its assault on Palestinians?
Israel’s Ministry of Agriculture says that since Hamas’s
October 7 attacks, between 30,000 and 40,000 farmworkers have left Israeli
fields. Half were Palestinians from the occupied West Bank who have since been
barred entry; the rest were foreign laborers, many of them Thai nationals, who
departed after the war began.
Despite extensive U.S. backing, Israel has struggled to
stabilize its wartime economy. Unwilling to rely on its own citizens for
grueling agricultural work, it turned to importing labor it effectively treats
as second-class within a Zionist order. Seeking roughly 5,000 workers from
African partners—especially its loyal ally Malawi—the first contingent of 221
Malawians has already arrived.
With this move, Israel exploits both the weakness of
U.S.-aligned African leaders and the desperation of impoverished communities.
President Chakwera drew criticism across the continent for sending the
country’s most promising demographic—its youth—to a state widely accused of
committing atrocities against both Muslim and Christian Palestinians. Malawi’s
opposition leader Kondwani Nankhumwa called the agreement—signed in secret—“a
satanic deal.”
Kenya, another close partner of Israel and the United
States, followed suit. Nairobi prepared to dispatch 1,500 Kenyans to work on
Israeli farms. During a May visit to Jerusalem, President William Ruto pledged
to deepen commercial ties; he also declared support for Israel shortly after
the October 7 attacks. Given his long-standing alignment with Israel, the
decision surprised few—yet it sparked heavy criticism at home. Already faulted
for frequent foreign travel and lavish spending, Ruto now faces charges that
exporting labor to fix the economy is both shortsighted and unsafe. Kenyan
politician Euru Aukot called the plan “irresponsible,” citing security
concerns, and accused Ruto of failing to deliver on promises to create jobs
domestically.
What conditions are these workers facing?
There have been numerous claims that African university
graduates were previously taken to Israel with promises of “training,” only to
be worked from dawn to dusk as farm laborers in remote areas, without any
meaningful educational program. Human Rights Watch documented similar abuses
involving Thai agricultural workers in Israel in a detailed 2015 report.*
Public reaction in both Malawi and Kenya has been
overwhelmingly negative. A small minority argues that “it is better to die with
a full stomach in a war zone than to starve at home,” but most describe the
schemes as a form of modern slavery.
Jonathan Chisikwa from Lilongwe puts it bluntly:
“Our ancestors were enslaved and forced to work in fields.
Now our leaders are gathering volunteers and exporting them. This is modern
slavery. Yes, unemployment is severe and people are hungry—but is the solution
to send our youth into a war zone for money that will likely be lost to
corruption?”
From Nairobi, Deborah Kamau highlights the long-term cost:
“There’s a point our leaders—and we Africans—aren’t
grasping: our young people leave the continent for work, spend their best years
abroad, and return only when they’re old. Our energy, talent, and knowledge get
spent outside Africa. If we don’t invest those gifts here—on our own soil, for
our own people—how will we ever develop? Instead of exporting workers, we
should be creating jobs at home.”
Sources:
https://www.semafor.com/article/12/08/2023/africa-israel-worker-shortage
https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2023/12/1/apprehension-as-malawi-sends-workers-to-israel
*https://www.hrw.org/report/2015/01/21/raw-deal/abuse-thai-workers-israels-agricultural-sector
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