­I reported on quite a sad story in Israel – Chinese workers who came to Israel to work in the construction industry. There are an estimated 11,000 Chinese laborers in Israel and most of them fill the gap left behind by Palestinian laborers who escaped Israel during the two Intifadas. Israel considered it unsafe to give work permits to Palestinians, as most of the terrorist activities that occurred inside of Israel in those years were committed by Palestinians.  A new workforce was therefore needed, which paved the way for many Chinese laborers to come to Israel to find work.

The problem is that many of these Chinese laborers bought visas to get into Israel that turned out to be illegal. I spoke to some people who paid up to $31,000 for a five-year work visa that, in reality, was only valid for one year. Many of these laborers had to borrow money back home to pay for these visas. They then came to Israel and after a few months or so found that their work visas were invalid. This left them in a terrible situation where they hadn't raised enough money to return home and fearful that if they do eventually return home, they’ll be unable to pay off their debts there.

In Israel they are considered illegal aliens and so the government is trying to deport them back to China. They have little or no work and many live in desperate situations, sleeping in caravans and working long hours for little pay, if they're lucky enough to get a job in the first place. Compounding this problem is that some of them have had children while in Israel. I met a woman whose son was born in Israel and speaks Hebrew as a first language. He doesn't even know Chinese! He feels that this is his home and that if he is deported, he'll be leaving behind the only life he knows.

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