We strongly reject the unprecedented allegations reported by the BBC concerning the terms of employment of Thai workers in Israel.  These claims portray a distorted picture of reality.  

The State of Israel vigorously employs the Ministry of Justice’s Office of the National Anti-Trafficking Coordinator, professional enforcement units of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Social Services and the Population and Immigration Authority to supervise the employment of foreign workers, workplace safety, health and compliance with the State's labor laws. The State obligates workers and employers carry out training, to enforce hygiene and safety regulations and to employ necessary protection measures. 

A special hot line in the Thai language is available to Thai workers, enabling them to report any problems they encounter. They also have the option of contacting the Thai embassy in Israel. Close cooperation between all concerned bodies is strictly maintained. Depending on the complaint, a special team of the Population and Immigration Authority or the relevant body is dispatched to check the complaint on the ground, and if substantiated an investigation is initiated against the employer. In this context, 992 complaint were handled in 2018. It is important to point out that employees are not bound to their employers and are able to change employers at any given moment.   

The Thai workers’ employment agreement TIC has been described by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Geneva (TIC Factsheet 2016) as a successful creation that has regulated and eased the employee recruitment process, reduced possibilities of collecting illegal payments from employment seekers and protected workers’ rights. Surveys conducted by the IOM to date show that 95% of the workers believe the agreement is “good to excellent.”

It is worthwhile to note that an IOM team visited Israel during the past month and was positively impressed by the treatment of Thai workers in Israel.

Regarding claims of deaths by unknown causes among Thai workers, it should be stressed that the Ministry of Health received in recent years reports of sudden death of Thai workers during sleep. The issue was investigated by the Public Health Services in cooperation with the National Institute of Forensic Medicine. The investigation, which included the dispatch of a senior medical team to Thailand, confirmed the hypothesis of the sudden deaths as a result of Brugada syndrome. The results of the Ministry of Health investigation show that a significant number of the cases of death during sleep were caused by a genetic syndrome common to Thailand in general and a certain number of tribes living in the north-eastern part of the country in particular. This syndrome has been also been noted amongst other Thai workers, not necessarily in the agricultural sector, in other countries around the world. 

The State of Israel is committed to continue to protect the rights of foreign workers and to ensure adequate and appropriate terms of employment, as part of the State’s commitment to combat manifestations of human trafficking and in accordance with international law.

 

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