The government should assume responsibility for the situation which is seeing many foreign workers being brought to Malta, exploited and forced to live in inhumane conditions, the Nationalist Party said on Thursday.

Referring to the case where some 150 workers were found living in squalid conditions in Qawra, the PN observed that this was far from being the first such case.

The party said the situation which such workers found themselves in was something which everyone should condemn.

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"Month after month, under the government's watch, hundreds of foreign workers are living in properties which miss hygienic standards and are absolutely unsuitable for habitation," the party said.

To make matters worse, such workers were being exploited and charged high rents just for a bed.

"It is clear that in this sector, the government has lost control over national territory," the party said. 

Read: 'What did we do to the Maltese?': evicted migrants left confused and alone

The PN said the current situation needed to be investigated and these workers, brought to Malta with the government's blessing, needed to be protected from exploitation.

The statement was signed by Carmelo Mifsud Bonnici, shadow minister for foreign affairs and Ivan Bartolo, shadow minister on social accommodation and social exclusion.