Indian construction workers face labor shortage at home
Indian workers have been moving to Israel in large numbers for construction jobs. It is the latest example of a longtime phenomenon – Indians moving to the Middle East due to scarce job opportunities at home. Israel has been facing an acute labor shortage, as a result of its barring some 80,000 Palestinian workers since the beginning of the war.
The deal between India and Israel indicates a growing closeness between the two nations, a process that began after India formally recognized Israel in 1992. Before 1992, India had been one of Palestine’s largest non-Arab supporters. The two nations have become particularly close during Narendra Modi’s premiership, as he became the first Indian PM to visit Israel in 2017.
Concerns about migrant workers
The status of Indian migrant workers has become a partisan issue within India. Supporters of the Indian National Congress are likely to oppose deals between Israel and India, while supporters of the BJP are likely to support them.
Indian trade unions have spoken out against the deal with Israel, raising concerns about replacing Palestinian workers, the unsafe conditions of the war-torn state, as well as the perceived immorality of such a deal. However, their stance is unlikely to deter the workers from lining up for jobs. Many are recent college graduates and unaffiliated with unions. For them, finding work, even in a war-torn nation may be the only way to safeguard their future.
However, even Indians who are pro-Israel should consider the implications of such a deal, not only for its displacement of Palestinian workers but also regarding the potential danger Indian workers face.
Dangers to migrant workers
Over the years, migrant workers have faced abysmal working conditions in the Middle East. More recently, many endured abysmal working conditions in building Qatar’s World Cup stadium. In 2021 The Guardian reported that “More than 6,500 migrant workers from India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka have died in Qatar since it won the right to host the World Cup.”
Indian workers have been caught up in wars in the Middle East before, most notably during Saddam Hussein’s invasion of Kuwait in 1990. Air India carried out a mass airlift of 170,000 people. However, there did not appear to be a mass movement of Indians into Kuwait after the war broke out, as there currently is into Israel.
Despite higher average wages in Israel, Indian workers have plenty to be wary of, aside from the threat of living in a war zone. It is common for foreign workers in Israel to pay high recruitment fees, which then leave them burdened with debt. Several foreign workers were unable to leave Israel after the October 7th attack, which killed at least 50 migrant workers. Indian migrant workers should be wary that the wages that Israeli and Indian recruiters promise may not come to fruition.
Racism and low wages
Human Rights Watch also detailed systemic abuse of Thai migrant workers in Israel’s agricultural sector. 83% of Thai workers on Israeli farms were paid below the minimum wage. Indian workers are already lured in droves to Gulf countries on false promises. The same fate may await many who move to Israel.
Anti-Indian sentiments have emerged following the news that Israel was planning on hiring tens of thousands of Indian workers. Racist remarks appeared on social media, calling Indians “rapists” and referring to them as “sexually hungry, uncivilized and dangerous to be on the streets of Israel.” In 2022, a young man from Mizoram in northeast India was lynched by a mob of Israeli attackers who yelled at him and called him “Chinese.”
Displacing Palestinian workers
While they may not fully realize it, these Indian workers are also contributing to the displacement of Palestinian workers in Israel. Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich explained why Palestinians were shut out of jobs by saying “We don’t bring in Arabs from Judea and Samaria because it is a security risk.”
Smotrich’s comment refers to Palestinians as Arabs, thereby negating their statehood while using biblical Israel-centric terminology to refer to the modern areas of the West Bank. Smotrich has also been under fire for blocking U.S. flour shipments into Gaza, where the entire population of over 2.2 million people “is facing crisis or worse levels of hunger”.
However, it may be that Indian migrant workers don’t understand the distinction between the terrorist group and the millions of ordinary civilians living in the West Bank and Gaza. Manoj Sharma, a 26-year-old carpenter from Lucknow headed to work in Israel, says, “Hamas killed innocent people. It was wrong … Palestinians have lost their chance to work in Israel.”
Why Israel?
A critical question to ask is, why Israel? Other rich countries near India are looking for workers to fill jobs. Why is Israel attracting so many Indian workers?
A massive portion of India’s population relies on informal jobs to supplement their income, which is why many are willing to take the huge risk of going into a war zone if it allows them to earn a stable source of income.
What’s surprising is how many workers are college graduates like Ranjeet Kumar, a university-educated teacher with two degrees. Santosh Mehrotra, a professor at the University of Bath, explained this baffling phenomenon: “It’s not that jobs are not happening. It’s just that organized jobs are barely growing, and at the same time, the number of young people looking for jobs is increasing.”
The answer may be that migrant workers are willing to put themselves in the middle of a war zone because of how desperate their situation is.
Ram Avatar, a 40-year-old tile setter from Haryana, had a dejected response to why he was moving to Israel in the middle of a war. “I am not afraid of death. We can die here too,” he said.
