There has been a ceasefire in the war between Israel and Hamas since Friday. So far, Hamas has released 59 of around 240 hostages. It is expected that more will be released on Monday. The ceasefire is also extended by two days. 40 of those released have been Israelis or Israelis with dual citizenship. The rest have been foreigners. These are one Russian, one Filipino and 17 Thais. Thai nationals are the largest group of foreigners among the hostages of Hamas. Thai authorities have previously estimated that there were 23 Thais among the hostages kidnapped by Hamas on 7 October. According to them, 32 Thais must have been killed by Hamas during the terrorist attack against Israel. The first ten Thais released by Hamas on Friday pose with a Thai officer. Photo: The Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs / AFP Several take on the honor Erik Skare is a Middle East researcher at the University of Oslo. He points to two possible reasons why so many Thais were among the first foreign hostages to be released. – It is partly because they are “unproblematic”, because they do not have dual citizenship, as several of the Israeli hostages do. Partly this is probably also due to the fact that Iran, one of Hamas’s most important supporters, has a good relationship with Thailand. This has probably made it easier to negotiate an agreement for Thailand, with help from Qatar, he says. A group of Thai Muslims traveled to Iran in October. There they spoke directly with a representative from Hamas, writes Reuters. They take credit for the fact that so many Thais were among the first foreign hostages to be released. – We were the only ones who spoke to Hamas about releasing Thais since the outbreak of war, says spokesperson for the group, Lerpong Syed, to Reuters. The talks with Hamas were not conducted under the official auspices of the Thai authorities. But they haven’t cracked down on them either. So far, Thai authorities have not commented on Syed’s claim. At the same time, both Iran and Turkey’s president, Tayyip Erdogan, have also taken credit for the release of the Thais. That is written by Reuters. Thai migrant workers harvest fennel near Kibbutz Sa’ad in southern Israel. The picture is from 2014. Photo: AMIR COHEN / Reuters Taking the jobs the Israelis don’t want According to the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs, there were around 30,000 Thais in Israel before the outbreak of war. These are migrant workers who take the jobs Israelis would rather not do themselves. They work for wages that are much higher than in their home country. Not unlike labor immigration in Norway. – Thais who go to Israel are primarily very poor and have few resources. There has been great concern regarding their working conditions in Israel. The Thais are grossly exploited by some actors, says Skare. He says that labor immigration from Thailand to Israel began in the 80s. It was formally agreed between Israel and Thailand in 2011. – That there were so many Thais among the hostages of Hamas is a mixture of the demography in the area and bad luck for the Thais, says Skare. Most of them work in agriculture, many of them on farms and kibbutzim near the border with Gaza. In total, there are around 100,000 migrant workers in Israel. Thais make up the largest group. Through an agreement with Israel, Thai workers earn a minimum wage of 5,300 Israeli shekels a month. This corresponds to approximately NOK 15,000. This is up to seven times higher than the Thais can earn in their home country, writes Al Jazeera. Israeli volunteers help farmers harvest avocados on a farm near Kibbutz Beeri. The picture was taken on 15 November. Photo: ALEXANDER ERMOCHENKO / Reuters Enormous need for labor Many Thais have chosen to stay in Israel after the outbreak of war. Nevertheless, almost 9,000 of them have left the country, at the urging of Thailand’s Prime Minister, Srettha Thavisin. A total of around 10,000 migrant workers in agriculture are said to have left the country since the war started, according to Israeli authorities. That’s what CNN writes. The Israeli Ministry of Agriculture also says that between 30,000 and 40,000 agricultural workers have disappeared from the country’s farms. Half of these will be Palestinian workers, who were banned from the country after the outbreak of war. This has triggered an enormous need for labor in agriculture. Many Israelis have volunteered. Nevertheless, Israel needs to recruit new foreign workers. They are now turning to other countries that can offer cheap labour, such as Sri Lanka and India.
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That is why there are so many Thais among the hostages of Hamas – news Urix – Foreign news and documentaries
