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5 Thais released by Hamas return home. Why are there so many Thai nationals in Israel?
Thai ambassador to Israel Pannabha Chandraramya recently said that now there are more than 38,000 Thai workers in Tel Aviv.
Hamas released five Thai nationals, who were taken hostage by the militant group during the October 7, 2023, attack as part of its ceasefire deal with Israel.
The five Thai nationals returned home on Sunday, officials said. A total of 31 Thai nationals were held captive by Hamas, of whom 23 have already been released. Another two have been confirmed dead and one other person's whereabouts remain unknown.
Thailand's ministry of foreign affairs has said 46 Thais have been killed in the Hamas-Israel conflict, including two of those who died under captivity.
ALSO READ | Who are Israeli, Thai hostages released as part of ceasefire with Hamas in Gaza?
Notably, tens of thousands of Thai workers were present in Israel. But why were they there?
Why are there so many Thais in Israel?
There was a time when Israel was heavily dependent upon Palestinian workers. But after the 1987-93 Palestinian revolt, the first 'Intifada', Tel Aviv began bringing in a large number of migrant workers.
Of these, most workers were from Thailand, making Thais as one of the largest group of foreign agricultural workers in Israel in today's age, a report from The Associated Press said.
Almost a decade ago, Israel and Thailand entered a bilateral agreement to ease the way for workers in the agriculture sector.
However, Israel has put itself under criticism for the conditions under which the Thai workers have been existing. A 2015 report from the Human Rights Watch said that the labourers were often put up in makeshift accommodations with insufficient facilities.
They were also "paid salaries significantly below the legal minimum wage, forced to work long hours in excess of the legal maximum, subjected to unsafe working conditions and denied their right to change employers".
More recently, another watchdog group uncovered that most of the Thai workers were still underpaid.
Before the October 7 attack on Israel, the country housed around 30,000 Thai workers, primarily those working on farms and agricultural land.
After Hamas' attack, some 7,000 of these workers moved back home largely via the government evacuation flights. But new arrivals did not stop.
Recently, Thai ambassador to Israel Pannabha Chandraramya said that now there are more than 38,000 Thai workers in Tel Aviv.
How Israel attracted workers after Hamas attack
The Hamas attack left a huge wave of distress and shock among foreign workers, prompting many of them to return home. This led to a labour shortage in Israel's agriculture sector, following which its ministry announced incentives in a bid to attract foreign labourers to the evacuated areas.
Israel had also offered to extend work visas and pay bonuses of around $500 a month, among other incentives.
Thailand's labour ministry also granted 3,966 Thai workers permission to work in Israel in 2024, keeping Israel in the top four destinations for Thais employed in abroad last year.
Generally, Thai migrant workers hail from the poorer regions of the country, especially the northeast. Even before the current bonuses, Israel paid them much higher amounts than what they could earn at home.
(with AP inputs)
