RAMALLAH, Friday, May 1, 2020 (WAFA) – Over 60 signatories comprising Palestinian human rights groups and non-governmental organizations sent today a joint open letter to the International Labor Organization (ILO), urging it to take action to protect the rights, livelihoods, and dignity of Palestinian workers during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.

"During COVID-19," the letter said, the susceptibility of Palestinian workers to the pandemic has been compounded, with the Israeli occupying authorities continuing to prioritize economic considerations over the inherent rights and dignity of Palestinian workers."

With the start of the outbreak, the Israeli occupying authorities allowed approximately 60,000 Palestinian workers employed in Israel to temporarily reside in Israel for a maximum period of two months during the emergency situation, with Israeli employers mandated to ensure adequate housing, proper sanitation, and food for workers.

"Yet", the letter added, "workers have faced dire housing conditions, forced to sleep at construction sites or in greenhouses, while Palestinian workers displaying symptoms of the flu have been thrown at checkpoints without coordination to ensure they would receive treatment."

The letter continued, "COVID-19 has exposed the fragility of economies across the globe, with the pandemic having the potential in the longer-term to dramatically amplify cycles of poverty and inequality."

"It is therefore more urgent than ever to address the prolonged denial of the individual and collective rights of the Palestinian people as the root cause depriving Palestinians of an adequate standard of living, including the right to work."

The signatories called on the ILO to send an urgent letter to the Israeli ministers of labor and health to urgently provide Palestinian workers with their three months’ wages during the emergency period, as per Israeli labor law.

They also called on the ILO to ask Israeli authorities to "take all necessary measures, including with employers, to guarantee healthcare coverage for Palestinian workers during and in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic; to provide Palestinian workers staying in Israel with adequate housing, food, water, and sanitation, as essential to upholding their rights and mitigating the effects of COVID-19 amongst workers and their families upon return."

M.N