Sending workers to Israel now akin to sending them to Hitler’s Germany: Hakeem

ECONOMYNEXT –Former minister, MP Rauff Hakeem has opposed Sri Lanka’s plans to send 10,000 workers to belligerent Israel.Cabinet spokesman minister Bandula Gunawardena said this week that cabinet approved a plan to send workers to Israel’s agriculture sector.

“Sending our workers to a country that is committing war crimes is like sending workers to Nazi Germany, when Hitler was killing Jews, and there were labour shortages,” Hakeem said in parliament on Thursday (23). “We are forgetting the atrocities being committed in the occupied territories today.”

“We have to be sensitive at a time like this. This is like trying to light our cigarette with the flames of the burning Palestinian houses.”

Hakeem said he was at a diplomatic function this week, where several Arab leaders were present. They were bemused by the move he said.

“We don’t have to listen to Arabs, but they provide lakhs and lakhs of jobs to Sri Lankans. You can earn foreign exchange, but see the timing of sending Sri Lankans to such a place.”

Hakeem said he had told labour and foreign employment minister Manusha Nanayakkara, who is on a drive to send increased numbers of migrant workers abroad, that this was an insensitive thing to do at a time like this.

“It has an impact on our security as well as economic implications. When Dilan Perera was minister and a similar recruitment was made, they [Sri Lankan workers] were given military training at Diyatalawa to be sent to Israel.

“Because they had to work in farms which had been vacated by the poor Gaza [Palestinian] residents. These people are going to be sent there; their security is not guaranteed,” he said. “[They] are bombing hospitals, schools, children, women, old people in the thousands.”

President Ranil Wickremesinghe who was present in parliament at the time, replied that Sri Lanka’s stance on the two-state solution hadn’t changed, “We condemn Israel’s bombardment of Gaza. The Israeli settlers in the West Bank must be removed. There has to be a political solution.”