The Foundation for Social Welfare Services (FSWS) helped 26 people overcome human trafficking and exploitation last year, its CEO Alfred Grixti said on Thursday.
In a conference held to mark the international day against human trafficking, Grixti noted that only two of the people who sought help were men. 17 were between the ages of 18 and 39, eight were between 40 and 59 years old, and one person was over 60.
Of these, Grixti said, only six were recognised as victims of trafficking by the police by the end of 2023. The rest didn’t satisfy the criteria of human trafficking while others chose not to give evidence in court against the traffickers.
Grixti said that it was time for people to rethink their habits when it came to services that used people who were being exploited, citing commodities like food delivery or ride-hailing cabs.
“I insist that human trafficking goes beyond the “legal” definitions we use in our work,” he said.
While the foundation had done some work with temping agencies to improve the situation, the reality of zero-hour contracts and poor wages for long work hours was still a reality, fuelled by people's desire for convenient services.
“Are we prepared to change our lifestyle to, at least, not continue to contribute to the exploitation of foreign workers? Because that is human trafficking also,” he said.
Social Policy Minister Michael Falzon said that the government was committed to continue strengthening knowledge of how to spot signs of human trafficking by bettering dialogue between professionals.
Identità and Jobsplus warn against abuse
Meanwhile, the Identità and Jobsplus agencies on Thursday welcomed a court decision on Wednesday where a restaurant owner was jailed for two years after admitting human trafficking charges.
The agencies had flagged the accused after their records showed that the number of workers he brought to Malta far exceeded the employees actually working at his businesses.
The agencies said they would not tolerate trafficking and exploitation and those who engaged foreign workers needed to ensure that those people worked only for the company with which the work contract would have been made and in the position laid down in the residence permit.