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As tensions in West Asia escalate following recent military aggression by Israel against Iran, concerns are mounting over the safety of thousands of Indian workers in Israel. The All India Central Council of Trade Unions (AICCTU) has urged the Union government to bring Indian workers back from Israel.
AICCTU said in a press release issued on Thursday, June 18, that, “The government has taken no initiative to ensure the safety and security of Indian workers in Israel, let alone facilitate their return.”
The release said that the Union government had pursued the “disastrous policy… of pushing Indian workers to war-torn Israel without any care or concern for the lives of Indian workers”.
Six months ago, Minister of State for External Affairs Kirti Vardhan Singh had said on the floor of the Rajya Sabha that as of October 2024, approximately 32,000 Indian workers were in Israel. Of these, about 12,000 arrived in Israel after October 2023 through both government-to-government (G2G) agreements and private channels.
Now, however, that number is likely to be higher “given the emphatic efforts of the Indian government to send workers to Israel”. “Indeed this move of the Modi Government to export and commodify the labour and to treat them as indentured slaves is anti-worker in its truest sense,” the release said.
It noted that two Indian nationals had lost their lives in the ongoing conflict, one in an attack from Lebanon in March 2024 and another in Gaza in May 2024. In addition, three Indian nationals were injured, one in rocket fire from Gaza on October 7, 2023, and two more in an attack from Lebanon in March 2024.
“Despite this the Indian Government has taken no initiative to ensure the safety and security of Indian workers in Israel, let alone take steps to bring them back. It must be ensured that the returning workers receive all their dues,” the press release said.
AICCTU called on the Union government to ensure that Indian workers in Israel and Iran are brought back.
“It is telling that the Union government has taken no steps in this regard this far whereas Indian students in Israel and Iran are already being evacuated. The Union government must show the same urgency to evacuate Indian workers.”