MALAWI has taken action after 12 of its farm workers were deported from Israel for violating employment contracts by leaving their assigned duties to work at a bakery. The confirmation came from Malawi’s Minister of Information and Digitisation, Moses Kunkuyu, who addressed the situation on Tuesday.
According to Kunkuyu, the Malawi Embassy in Tel Aviv reported that the workers possessed valid visas and contracts to work on specific farms in Israel’s agricultural sector. However, they chose to abandon their designated employment, resulting in their arrest while working at a confectionary factory in Tel Aviv last week.
‘It’s an offence under Israeli law for a foreign worker holding a specific visa/work permit and contract to change jobs without following the necessary procedures,’ stated Kunkuyu.
Four of the deported workers have already returned to Malawi, with the remaining eight expected to arrive home on Wednesday.
Kunkuyu issued a stern warning to Malawian migrant workers in Israel, emphasising that breach of contract will not be tolerated and could damage the country’s reputation while diminishing employment opportunities for individuals involved.
The incident comes amid ongoing efforts to regulate the employment of Malawian workers in Israel. Thousands of unskilled Malawians have been employed in Israel since 2023 through private labour agents. However, Malawi’s parliament passed a resolution in April to review the labour agreement with Israel, aiming to secure better benefits for workers.
Recently, Malawi and Israel signed a new labour agreement in Tel Aviv, facilitating the airlifting of nearly 3,000 unskilled Malawian workers to Israel for farm and industrial jobs. The move is expected to bolster Malawi’s foreign exchange reserves, which have faced challenges in recent years.
The deportation of these workers underscores the importance of adhering to employment regulations and contractual obligations for foreign workers in Israel, highlighting the potential consequences of unauthorised job changes.
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