Thousands of Sri Lankan farm, construction workers set to depart for Israel despite war
- Sri Lanka, desperate for dollars and remittances, plans to send some 20,000 workers to Israel starting early next month
- Israel’s farms, most of which are in the centre and south of the country, typically rely on Thai and Palestinian workers
Dias is among 20,000 workers that Sri Lanka, desperate for dollars and remittances, plans to send to Israel starting early next month to work in the farm and construction sectors, a Sri Lankan minister said on Thursday.
Israel’s farms, most of which are in the centre and south of the country, traditionally rely on thousands of Thai and Palestinian workers to till the land and bring in the crops.
But many Thais fled Israel after the Hamas assault on October 7, while the Palestinians have largely been banned from the workforce, forcing farms to send out an SOS for workers during the harvest.
Dias, 39, said he has experience living through conflict.
“We lived during a war in Sri Lanka,” he said, referring to Sri Lanka’s civil war against Tamil separatists between 1983 and 2009.
“I have worked in Colombo where there were suicide bombs going off at one point and even in conflict areas in the east around 2005. So I think we can manage. We are familiar with working on a farm so I’m confident we can face anything.”