It appeared to be a classic rally against unemployment and the rising cost of living. On November 12, hundreds of demonstrators gathered near Capital Hill, the headquarters of the Malawian presidency, in Lilongwe. Except for one detail: they were not asking their government to create jobs or resolve the economic crisis, but to send them to Israel as quickly as possible and to keep a promise made by the authorities in October 2023. Eleven d Among them were arrested by the police, a sign that the subject is sensitive.
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After the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, Malawi rushed to sign a bilateral labor agreement with the Jewish state to try to make up for the hasty departure of around 30,000 agricultural workers of Palestinian origin or from from Asia. The initial agreement provided for the sending of 10,000 Malawian farmers to compensate for this lack of labor. The Israeli Minister of the Economy, Nir Barkat, even mentioned the idea that « 100 000 » agricultural workers could join Israeli farms. A godsend which then raised hope in this rural and poor country which is sinking into economic crisis.
But, a year after the signing of this memorandum of understanding, barely a thousand Malawian agricultural workers have joined the Jewish state. Since then, recruitment has stalled and has caused frustration among more than 3,000 young job seekers. Registered on the lists, they are desperately waiting for a green light to join Israel.
“I gave up everything”
Tapson Maganga, a 34-year-old farmer, left northern Malawi in December 2023, where he worked on orange and rubber plantations, to settle in Lilongwe, “ready for the big departure”. “I left everything behind after the government’s promise”says the man who no longer has an income but a wife and two children to support. “Obviously we are angry. We are promised a five-year contract, paid eight times more than here, and then we are left in the dark.”he said. His previous job paid barely $200 (189 euros) per month. The government has since promised him a salary of $1,600 in Israel.
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Tapson Maganga says he is ready to do anything to leave Malawi in crisis, undermined by over-indebtedness and plunged into such a shortage of foreign currencies that the government finds itself unable to import fuel. For President Lazarus Chakwera, a fervent supporter of the Jewish state, the agreement was thought of as a way to stop the economic hemorrhage: between November 2023 and January 2024, the funds sent by Malawian workers exported to Israel amounted to at $735,000.
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