As part of the bilateral agreements with India and Sri Lanka, in order to strengthen the construction sector as soon as possible, some 9,000 workers from India and 3,000 from Sri Lanka have been screened over the past few months. The screenings in both countries were headed by PIBA working with CIMI and in cooperation with local government units, and were conducted together with the Ministry of Construction and Housing and the Israel Builders Association. The first workers are expected to arrive in Israel in the coming weeks and further screenings are planned in April.
Alina Fooks, director of labor migration programs describes the experience:
“My experience in the trip to India was fascinating and emotional. I participated in the Israeli delegation as CIMI’s representative. For almost two weeks we were in Lucknow in northern India conducting professional tests for the recruitment of construction workers. The situation in India is really hard and people are on the lookout for the chance of earning a living. The caste-based discrimination in the country doesn’t help. The visit was surprising in every respect – from the weather, with heavy fog every morning causing the trains to stop running, to the number of people who came to the tests. Following a report on local TV about our tests, thousands of people turned up, something we’d never seen before.”
Photographs: Alina Fooks
