Malawi’s government has announced plans to send 5,000 young people to work on Israeli farms, despite criticism for sending 221 young people to the country last weekend.
“We are looking at an initial figure of around 5,000, that’s what we are targeting now,” Malawi Information Minister Moses Kunkuyu told the BBC Newsday programme on Tuesday.
“Others [Malawians] have been there for more than five years and we’re just adding to those figures.”
The minister defended the much-criticised move, saying that it was part of the government’s ongoing program of providing employment to young people locally and abroad.
“This has been happening in Malawi for decades and we’ve been exporting young people to countries in Africa and outside Africa,” Mr Kunkuyu added.
Malawian opposition leader Kondwani Nankhumwa had on Monday bashed the government during an interview with BBC Newsday, accusing it of endangering Malawians by sending them to a country at war.
Mr Kunkuyu, however, said that Israel had assured Malawi that its citizens will work in safe zones unaffected by the fighting.
The Malawians will replace some of the more than 10,000 foreign farm workers who have left Israel due to the war.
It never ceases to amaze me how unloving we can be to our own kith and kin. The Malawian minister says Israel has assured them that the Malawian workers will not be taken to war zones. Really? How foolish can our leaders get? What control is Malawi going to have over the workers once they reach Israel?
Those who care about their citizens are pulling them out of Israel irrespective of their location. Meanwhile, we, the foolish ones are despatching thousands in the name of employment. Is this how desparate we are? Why can’t we learn from Israel’s success in agriculture and other areas and replicate?
It seems very little has changed from the days when slavery was at its peak. We are very willing to sell our own into modern day slavery and as long as this is the case, don’t expect other people to any respect for us.
Meant “… other people to HAVE any respect for us”.