Unemployment forces thousands of Indian workers to seek jobs in Israel
Rohtak (India): Thousands of men queued in India’s northern state of Haryana recently during a recruitment drive to send workers to Israel, where the offensive in Gaza, now in its fourth month, has caused a shortage of labour.
According to Kashmir Media Service, masons, painters, electricians, plumbers and some farmers said they were looking for jobs in Israel with some willing to risk going into a conflict zone because they could make five times more money in a year than they would at home.
“There is unemployment here and it’s because of it that people want to leave,” said Lekharam, a mason who was among the workers gathered at a recruitment camp in Rohtak, 66 kilometers from New Delhi.
“If it’s in our destiny to die, then we can die either here or there. My hope is that we will go and do good work and spend some time and come back,” he added.
India, now the world’s most populous country with a population of 1.4 billion, has an urban unemployment rate of 6.6 percent, government data shows, but more than 17 percent of workers younger than 29 are unemployed and others work as casual labor. Unemployment and underemployment are a key concern for the authorities.
This month, an Israeli financial daily said the country planned to bring in about 70,000 foreign workers from China, India and elsewhere to boost its construction sector, which has come to a standstill.
Vivek Sharma, a 28-year-old mason, said he was aware of the risks in Israel from the conflict but was willing to take the risk if he could earn more.
“Yes, I am aware of the conflict, but I can earn a lot of money in a short time,” said Sharma, who estimates he could end up earning more than a million Indian rupees ($12,000) by working in Israel for a year.
