Israel mulls to welcome more Thai workers

BANGKOK, December 21 (TNA) - The Israeli government is considering to welcome more Thai nationals to work in the the Middle East-nation. Thai Labour Minister Police General Adul Sangsingkeo told journalists in Bangkok of the positive prospect on Friday, after leading his entourage to visit Israel a day earlier to strengthen labour ties and cooperation between Bangkok and Jerusalem, as well as to follow up the updated situation in sensitive and violence-prone areas where Thai workers are employed. The Thai minister said that Israeli Interior Minister Aryeh Deri promised to take the issue on raising the quota of imported Thai workers, proposed by his team, into consideration. "On December 20, the Thai delegation, led by me, met and held separate talks with both the Israeli Interior Minister and Israeli Welfare Minister Haim Katz in Jerusalem, both of whom pledged to take good care of Thai workers in Israel through labour protection and welfare measures", the Thai minister stated. The Thai minister revealed that the Israeli ministers promised to take tough legal action against Israeli employers who breach the laws on the provision of appropriate employment, welfare and health protection, as well as residential camps for Thai workers, as requested by the Thai delegation, covering the withdrawal of their quota for hiring foreign workers and the opening of more complaint channels for Thai workers, as well as the serious drug prevention and crackdowns. Besides, Jerusalem agreed on the Thai delegation's requests that Thai workers in Israel will be soon notified their wages, in separate slips, in the Thai language and will be guaranteed their extra one-month wage each yearly, as stipulated in the legally-established Deposit Fund, for all those who fully observe their employment contracts. (TNA)