Farmers are complaining about a lack of labor force, Thais are barely able to get to Israel, other Thais who are fired from one farm wish to move to another, and the government is not letting them. So claim Kav LaOved activists, who help the workers, as well as manpower companies. According to them, there are hundreds of Thai works in Israel who wish to legally transfer from one employer to another, but can't. The Ministry of the Interior (MOI) denies the claims and says that quite the opposite is true, but in the fields people insist that the problem exists. It is a problem that arises, according to the farmers, every year, but that this year is especially bad because of the lack of new Thai workers due to alleged corruption in the import of Thai workers. 

Agriculture is a seasonal business, and its workers – most of whom come from Thailand – often conclude their work on a farm before their visa expires. In the past the MOI rules allowed them to move to another farm, thus limiting the import of new workers to Israel, the painful deportation of present workers, and the economic distress of the farmers. "Despite the fact that the MOI itself determined this rule, it insists on not applying it," says Kav LaOved’s attorney Rachel Idelevitch. "The result is an additional difficulty burdened by Thai workers, who are working and living in very difficult conditions and find it difficult to find new work because of the language barrier and their isolated locations." 

In a rare occurrence, manpower companies find themselves in complete agreement with Kav LaOved's assertions. "The MOI and Ministry of Industry, Trade & Labor (MITL) have a bureaucratic rule called "unification of files"," says Orit Esterchan, the owner of the manpower company "Oz S.G.", which provides Thai workers to farms. "Every year they do this unification of files, during which time the world must stand still and workers are unable to change employers. This year has been especially difficult because of the Thai mess which caused a shortage of labor. I have about 20 workers who were fired by one employer and would like to move to a new employer, and I estimate there must be hundreds like there." 

According to Esterchan, the workers and the employers are forced to do illegally what they would like to do legally: "It's a ridiculous spectacle. A farmer who closed his farm and fired three Thai workers calls me up saying he has nothing to do with them, he can't find them alternative work, and at the same time there are farmers looking for workers. The farmers call me and say they're afraid, they are being forced to become criminals. Farmers in the north fear the MITL officials and so they are losing out on work. Employers in the south ignore the law, and of course the Thai people, who need work in order to eat, are willing to work illegally. So tomorrow migration inspectors will come and arrest the Thai workers, and the farmer will pay a 50,000 shekels fine. Why? What for? The government is turning everyone into criminals when they have done no wrong. I understand we are nothings and one has to screw us, but if we want to things legally, why make it difficult? I call up the MOI to complain, and the clerk tells me: "I don't speak with manpower companies." Bravo. There is a gang of idiots sitting there living in their own world, and everyone else pays the price." 

As we said, MOI and MITL deny the fact that any problem exists. "We are doing the best we can to help farmers and workers in order to make the move from one employer to another possible," says Meir Spiegler, the official in charge of migrant workers in the MOI. We are aware of the fact that there is presently a shortage of hundreds of agricultural workers, but this is a result of certain actions by the Thai authorities. As far as the Israeli government is concerned, there are no hindrances to the recruitment of workers. On the contrary, 1,500 Thai workers who were supposed to leave have received permits in order to relieve the farmers' distress. We are aware that is not enough, but we have no way of helping further. If the manpower companies or human rights organizations have workers who are looking for work – send them to us." 

Esterchan responded to Spiegler's comments: "Spiegler has no idea what he's talking about. He should come talk to me, and I'll prove to him that the problem exists in huge proportions and is a direct result of government policy."