Israel has placed a ban on foreign workers from Nepal after discovering that they are likely to violate the terms of their contracts. The ban was announced Thursday by Yaakov Ganot, head of the Interior Ministry's Population Administration.
A recent investigation showed that at least 25 percent of the roughly 1,000 Nepalese citizens employed in Israel as caretakers do not work for the employer who brought them to Israel. By switching employers and fields of work, foreign laborers become illegal entrants and can be deported.
The situation is not the fault of Nepalese workers, Ganot said. Rather, they are victimized by groups who bring them to Israel in exchange for as much as $10,000 to work in fields in which they have no experience.
Most Nepalese workers are brought to Israel to serve as caretakers, the investigation found. However, most of the workers who arrived in Israel in recent years were unqualified to work as caretakers and did not speak any foreign language, leaving them unable to communicate with potential patients.
Work permits will not be issued for Nepalese citizens until the situation regarding their status in Israel is clarified to the Interior Ministry's satisfaction, Ganot said. Several companies that bring Nepalese workers to Israel will be questioned, he said, and brought to justice if they are found to have knowingly set workers up to lose their legal status.