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Migrant Workers March Into the Line of Fire

Indian migrant workers have a long history of repression and poor treatment. In 2024, nothing has changed and it is only getting from bad to worse.

By Samata Biswas, 360info
New Update
Migrant workers from India

The willingness of Indian migrant workers to sign up to work in a conflict zone such as Israel is testimony to their acute financial distress. | Israel Defense Forces | Credits CCBY2.0 Generic

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In the award-winning Sea of Poppies, Indian novelist Amitav Ghosh immortalised the journey of 19th century indentured labour migrants— called "girmitiyas"—aboard a ship to Mauritius during the heyday of British colonialism.

It’s 2024. Another group of migrant workers trudges through New Delhi international airport carrying cheap plastic suitcases, wearing clothing bought off roadside flea markets.

They are the new age "girmitiyas" in search of a promised El Dorado. 

More than 60 Indian construction workers left for Israel in early April amid mounting concerns for their safety and rising opposition from trade unions in India, but to no avail.

The low cost Azerbaijan Airways flight, which took these worker armies to the outskirts of Tel Aviv, was jam-packed. Some workers were shunted off to an Ethiopian Airways flight which took an even more circuitous route to the promised land. 

These workers travelled despite their government having warned Indians that Israel is now a war zone and it's best to avoid any travel there. 

In March, the Indian government advised Indians in Israel to move to safer locations following the killing of migrant worker Pat Nibin Maxwell.

But India’s migrant workers have kept marching.

When Israel’s war on Palestine erupted last October, Israel cancelled the permits of Palestinian workers, and sought to replace them with as many as 100,000 migrant workers from countries like India, continuing an agreement between the two governments.

While Israel’s recruitment of workers in a conflict zone is worrying, far worse is India’s willingness to send its workers into t

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