Those deported were part of a labour drive by the Israeli government last year to fill a shortage of agricultural workers following Hamas’ October 7 deadly attacks on Israel that led the country to stop giving permits to Palestinians to work on its farms.

Twelve workers from Malawi have been deported from Israel after walking off farms and orchards where they were working to get higher salaries elsewhere, Malawian authorities said on Tuesday.

The 12 Malawians were among more than 40 foreign workers who were arrested while working at a bakery in Tel Aviv last week.

The workers, who were part of a labour agreement between Israel and Malawi, were unhappy with working conditions in the agricultural sector and found work in a bakery instead.

The Malawi workers “in breach of their contracts... abandoned their lawful employment at the farms to start working at the bakery”, Malawi’s government spokesman Moses Kunkuyu said in a statement Tuesday.

Israel’s ambassador to Malawi Michael Lotem told the BBC that “anybody who violates his visa terms will be deported – as easy as this, as in any country.”

Lotem said he hopes that “it will be a sign for others that it is better to stick to the job. Nobody forced them to come, they came to do a job, they should do the job that is all.”

“The Israeli police shows zero tolerance to illegal activity especially these days when we have so many other troubles,” he added.

Hundreds of Malawians have flown to Israel since last November as part of the government labour export programme aimed at finding jobs for young people and generating desperately needed foreign exchange.

Many Malawians remain without work as the southern African country has been gripped by an economic crisis that has seen massive government spending cuts.

Israeli farms, a valuable part of the economy, have lost thousands of labourers since Hamas’s October 7 attacks that triggered the Gaza war.

Dozens of foreign workers were among about 240 people that Israel says were kidnapped in the attacks.

Malawian authorities cautioned the remaining workers in Israel, many of them young men and women, that a breach of contract would “not be tolerated”.

Kunkuyu urged workers to “desist from such behaviour as it puts this country into disrepute”.

After being processed, four of the 12 workers arrived back in Malawi on Tuesday while the other eight were expected to arrive the next day, the state said.

The labor deal has faced criticism from rights groups and Malawi’s opposition.

Malawi’s opposition leader Kondwani Nankhumwa described the deal last November as “an evil transaction” because of the threat from the Israel-Gaza war that has left tens of thousands dead.

“The two governments will ensure the labour export to Israel operates within the prevailing regulatory frameworks,” the Malawian government said.

Malawi opened an embassy in Tel Aviv two weeks ago, which its foreign minister Nancy Tembo said reaffirmed the government’s commitment to “long-standing” bilateral relations between the two nations.

She said the labour deal would provide 3,000 workers initially.