MALAWI SENDS YOUNG MALAWIANS KIDS TO ISRAEL UNDER A SECRET AGREEMENT TO WORK IN ISREALI FARMS

Hello friends. My first question to you is this. Do you want to go to Israel and work? It is an opportunity. I guess not. Let us look at Malawi.

Table of Contents

• How it All Started
• Why Israel Needed Farm Workers
• How The Government Justify The Agreement
• Opposition From Parliament
• All About Chilembwe and His Struggle

How it All Started

Malawis’ President Lazarus Chakwera has come under fire for keeping secret his government’s decision to send about 221 young people to work on farms in Israel.

The airlifting of the young people by an Israeli Airbus A321-251 plane overnight last Saturday has since angered many Malawians. The move follows a $60 million aid package from Israel to Malawi two weeks ago.

Why Israel Needed Farm Workers

We know it is not very easy to get into Israel. Why all of a sudden the want to recruit people from Africa to go and do labor work. Israeli Agriculture Ministry on record was saying between 30,000 and 40,000 Israeli workers have left Israel farms after the start of the war. They are now recruiting people.

How The Government Justify The Agreement

Trying to justify what happened. The Labour Ministry Principal Secretary Labour Wezi Kayira said, “exporting labour to various countries, including Israel, is one way of creating jobs. It is creating jobs for youths and generating foreign exchange for the southeastern African nation which has a population of 20 million.

This programme will benefit both individuals and the nation. A portion of wages will cover their living cost in Israel. While the remainder will be remitted to personal account here in Malawi to boost foreign exchange,” Kayira said in a statement shared with Anadolu

He also stressed that the Malawian youth are not going to fight in Israel’s war against Palestinian group Hammas. But will work at certified and approved locations, which are classified as fit and safe environments.

Is it not better to create jobs for them in there own country? After all that is the job of a government. Besides what is considered safe in a war zone. Working in farm is not a glamorous work. These are young person, living in poverty. On this matter, there is push back from the Malawian people.

Human Right Reaction to The Agreement

However , Gift Trapence, the chairperson of Human Rights Defenders Coalition, a civil rights group, questioned the secrecy surrounding the labour export deal with Israel. “We condemn the government for being secretive on the labour export agreement it has entered with Israel. Government actions on labour export to Israel should be transparent,”

The Malawian people question their government for not give the money directly to the young workers.

Opposition From Parliament

Opposition leader in Malawi’s parliament, Kondwani Nankhumwa, who first raised the issue in parliament on Thursday, told Anadolu via telephone that the government opted to keep the issue secret because it knows this is an evil transaction.

In a country at war, I don’t see how you will send your kids there to work. Except if the president’s children are not among. Let us say the truth, $60 million is too small for 221 kids.

“Government has gone into such an agreement with Israeli companies when it is fully aware that there is war. No sane parent can send his or her child to work in a country that is at war,” Nankhumwa said.

They should let this kids grow up in peace.

All About Chilembwe and His Struggle

Malawi is a country of John Chilembwe. He was a great pan-africanist. He was born 1871. He later worked under Joseph Booth as a missionary. John was very much involved in Christianity. He eventually traveled to the United States to acquire more knowledge. He studied theology in Virginia. He returned to Malawi and became a preacher, preaching about Jesus Christ to the Malawian. He established a church.

The Malawians prefer to go to church where the preacher looks like them. White settlers came to Malawi as they did in other African nations. The Malawians were forced to do hard labour by the white settlers. The white settlers also were forcing them off the Malawian native lands. They were also forced to fight as soldiers against German army in Tanzania.

John Chilembwe was one of the people that stood and said no. That no Malawian should go give his life on things that do not concern Africans. After he expressed his discontent against this in justice, in January 1915 he led an uprising against the white settlers. It was not successful. A few days letter while trying to cross into Mozambique, he was shot dead.

Malawi later became independent in 1964 and today. Chilembwe is on the bank note of Malawi. There are high ways named after him. Recently, they put a statue of John Chilembwe in London. Why will the British people put a statue of a great Pan-Africanist? Because they understand that he was a pastor. And he did not preach in the Name of Jesus don’t fight.