Migrant workers entered Israel initially in the 1990s to replace Palestinian construction workers and agricultural workers. A large number of tourists from West African, South American, and Eastern European countries also arrived in the 1990s, and when their tourist visas expired, many remained and took on cleaning jobs. There is no official record, and not even an official estimate, of the number of migrant workers in Israel today. The current unofficial estimate is 190,000.
Migrant workers represent an extremely vulnerable population group within Israeli society, whose rights are constantly trampled upon by both their employers and the state authorities. While the government works intensively to combat the issue of migrant workers residing illegally in Israel, it consistently fails to enforce the law against criminal employers who violate the basic rights of their migrant workers. In addition, the government views migrant workers as temporary residents who are only in Israel in order to work, and who must at all costs be kept from "taking root" in Israel. This approach results in draconian policies toward migrant workers which severely violate their right to family and other basic rights.
Resources on Migrant Workers’ Rights:
ACRI Protests Immediate Expulsion of Nearly 10,000 Migrant Workers , May 2009
Migrant Workers’ Children Get Fair Chance at Obtaining Residency Status, July 2007
Court Orders State to Justify Procedure on Pregnant Migrant Workers, April 2007
Entry Law Violates Basic Rights of Migrant Workers, February 2007
No State for Love: Violation of the Right to Family of Migrant Workers in Israel, 2006
Court Orders Cancellation of Migrant Worker Binding Arrangement, April 2006
Ensuring Access to Attorneys for Slated Deportees, March 2006
Children with no Protection, Haaretz, August 3, 2005
Photo by: Michael Brandeis