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An agricultural migrant worker from Thailand. (Yaron Kaminsky)
Last update - 00:00 23/09/2007
Thailand moves to curb the exploitation of migrant workers
By Ruth Sinai, Haaretz Correspondent
Tags: Israel, Thailand 

The government of Thailand last week signed, with Israel's blessing, an agreement designed to substantially decrease the fees Thai migrant workers pay in order to work in Israel.

The agreement is intended to decrease the incentive for agencies to bring workers to Israel, and its implementation will begin in a few months.

The agreement stipulates that a Thai citizen wishing to work in Israel will pay a maximum of $1,800: $1,200 for flights and $600 for expenses, including permits, medical examinations and vaccinations.
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Thai migrant workers at present pay up to $8,000, divided between agents abroad and in Israel.

The parties to the agreement are the Thai labor ministry and the International Organization for Migration (IOM), a UN-recognized body that aids migrant workers around the world and combats human trafficking. The organization has historical connections with Israel: in the past, it helped bring Holocaust survivors and Middle Eastern Jews to Israel.

While Israel has not signed the document, the government decided to support it more than two years ago. High-ranking government officials have followed the process closely from its onset, including the Prime Minister's Office Director-General Ra'anan Dinor and Yael Rubinstein, the Israeli ambassador to Bangkok.

"We home that the memorandum of understanding will stop the huge exploitation of workers," Rubinstein said from Bangkok on Saturday. She also expressed hope that the memorandum would provide a model for similar agreements with other countries that provide Israel with migrant workers.

According to the agreement, the Thai labor ministry will be responsible for recruiting and funding the migrant workers, and IOM will oversee the process.
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