I hope I am wrong but the impression I get is that when delivery persons went on strike, the general reaction was mild irritation at the interruption of services rather than sympathy for their plight.

A report in this newspaper should make it patently evident that sympathy itself is not enough. Some of the findings of the report make for bleak reading.

However, the basic facts need repeating. Some delivery persons are amassing large debts to get all the paperwork in order and fly to Malta. Others do not earn close enough to the minimum wage on an 80-hour week.

Many only end up getting €2.10 per delivery. So, it is no surprise that some drive their scooters at breakneck speed, trying to fit in as many deliveries as possible. This newspaper estimated that the cost of relocating to Malta was in the region of €8,000.

It would be wrong to assume that delivery persons are the only workers to operate in such conditions. Probing further in other sectors would probably yield similar horror stories. Moreover, the living conditions that some of these workers live in are equally horrendous: cramped apartments, with seven to eight people sharing two bedrooms and a bathroom.

However, there seems to be a deafening silence by everyone except for the independent media. This silence unmasks a reality with which we have become comfortable. This is best exemplified in the words of the former disgraced prime minister in 2019:

“If possible, I do not want the Maltese to be picking up rubbish from the streets. Every job should be dignified  but I do not want a situation where the foreigner is comfortable and the Maltese breaking their backs.”

The remarks were later withdrawn after a public outcry branded them as ‘classist’. However, with the benefit of hindsight, they can be seen as being worse than that. They embody an attitude that encourages the creation of an underclass – a ghettoised underclass that is unseen and unheard – but whose sole aim is to serve the vast majority of the country.

Their labour also serves other industries which have untouchable status in our society and which no political party would ever dare to take on except to shower with sycophantic praise and adulation.

For example, a 2019 report highlighted how dangerous the construction industry could be for foreign workers. The lack of training and competencies is just the tip of the iceberg; some cannot communicate adequately in English while others are employed off the books, limiting their ability to seek redress from the authorities.

There is a concerted effort to turn Malta into the Qatar of the Mediterranean, complete with the horrid soul-less aesthetic- André DeBattista

Meanwhile, no one dares to take the workers’ plight. The two political parties have nothing to gain and everything to lose. None of these workers has the right to vote and, therefore, no tangible electoral support to give.

On the contrary, the many industries served by this economic model are donors that should not be upset unduly. Indeed, this industrial model is also seen as a necessary fuel to foster growth in specific industries.

There is some irony in this. All our political parties claim their roots in the principles of the social encyclical Rerum Novarum, which speaks of a fair daily wage, proper working conditions and rest for the worker.

The trade unions are also strangely silent on this issue despite claiming they want to be relevant again. In other words, there is a concerted effort to turn Malta into the Qatar of the Mediterranean,  complete with the horrid soul-less aesthetic. Some parallels are shocking.

In the run-up to the 2022 World Cup, several citizens from Bangladesh, India, Nepal and the Philippines were engaged in construction work through agencies. Unfortunately, some turned to unscrupulous agencies in their home countries and took out heavy loans with high-interest rates to secure their air ticket, permits and required medical tests.

There were cases where several ended up destitute. For example, when Mercury MENA folded its business operations, several employees had no roof over their heads and relied on food handouts by charities. Many could ill-afford to return home due to high rates of unemployment. Others were too humiliated to do so.

Those injured on site had to pay their own medical bills since their employer refused to do so. Many who lost their lives had to be buried in Qatar since the cost of repatriating the body was too high for the grieving families. Once again, no support was provided by the authorities or the employers.

The Nepali embassies are often at a loss with how to react, preferring not to raise a fuss rather than lose potential employment opportunities for their citizens.

Perhaps Malta has not yet reached the extremes of Qatar. Nonetheless, it seems amply clear that this is where it may end up in a very short period of time.

Meanwhile, our deadened consciences have learned how to live with this and few give a second thought every time the doorbell rings to bring the latest delivery.

André DeBattista is a political scientist.