‘No Choice But to Stay Put in Israel, Earn for Family’: Nepali-Indian Caregivers

Shrestha has dependent parents – and she moved to Israel to be able to support them.

“I moved to Israel in 2019, frankly due to the higher salary that is offered to nurses and caregivers here. In India, when I was working in a private hospital in Siliguri as a nurse, I was getting paid only Rs 15,000. I am now getting around 70 percent more than that, and that is the reason why many women from our region are coming here,” she tells The Quint.

Over the years, according to a Siliguri-based job recruitment agency, there has been an uptick in applications from women in the hills of north Bengal and Sikkim applying for caregiver jobs in the ‘promised land’.

“In India, our nurses in private hospitals get a paltry salary and government jobs are very hard to come by. Plus we have benefits like health insurance and yearly bonuses here,” says Shrestha.

According to an Indian Express report, apart from the salary, Israel also offers an easy immigration process to Indians because of its ECNR (emigration clearance not required) status. Those aspiring for the job of caregivers only need to attend a short-term course in Hebrew.

Recalling how Saturday unfolded, Diki Sangmo Lama (name changed), who is a live-in caregiver to an elderly couple in Kiryat Bialik, a city in Israel’s Hafia district, tells The Quint:

“When we switched on the TV, we saw visuals of men from Hamas militant group kidnapping and dragging away families. This scared my employers – they got very agitated given their advanced age. My only thought was: what would happen to my family if something happened to me? In fact, later in the day when I called my son up, he kept crying and pleading with me to return,” she adds.

“I miss seeing my son grow up, but I have to stay put here. In India, my job as a nurse was not paying me much. I want my son to go to a good school and have a good education,” she tells The Quint.