Report faults Malta for weak enforcement on labour exploitation

A Council of Europe report into human trafficking has highlighted “weak” enforcement of labour laws for employment agencies and high-risk sectors.

The recent report calls on Malta to review legislation covering migrant workers, increase oversight of private employment agencies and establish procedures to make reporting rogue employers safer and more effective.

It urges Malta to beef up its resources to tackle the issue, pointing to a lack of labour inspectors and funding and insufficient screening of migrants and asylum seekers staying in detention centres or open centres.

The report also calls on the authorities to confiscate assets from human traffickers to fund compensation payouts for victims. It notes that no victims of human trafficking have received compensation over the past five years.

'Excessive' lengthy court proceedings

“Excessive” lengthy court proceedings were also highlighted in the group of experts on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings (GRETA) publication, which urges the authorities to ensure court cases are of a “reasonable” duration.

Some 62 “presumed” victims of human trafficking were identified by the Maltese authorities between 2021 and 2024, including two children, with 15 people formally being identified as victims by the police. Most victims were from Latin America and trafficked for sexual exploitation.

The report says there had been an increase in presumed victims trafficked from Asia but noted that, despite being willing to seek help from social services, those victims were less likely to file a police report.

There are about 130,000 migrant workers in Malta, mostly from India, the Philippines and Nepal and engaged in low-paid jobs and sectors such as construction, hospitality and domestic work, the report notes.

It raises “concerns” about migrants working on fishing boats.

Acknowledging 2022 legal changes ensuring a minimum wage for platform workers and a 2024 law requiring temping agencies to be registered, the report still notes that enforcement remains insufficient.

Despite efforts to raise awareness of human trafficking and train staff to detect it, methods for identifying victims “are not well known among frontline officials and NGO staff.”

'Labour inspections are rare'

The report adds: “Further, labour inspections are rare due to inspector shortages and there is no systematic vulnerability screening in immigration reception or detention centres.”

Some improvements have been registered, the report notes, like the opening of a dedicated safe house for trafficking victims and increased state funding as examples. However, it points out that victims continue to experience difficulties to find a job while only “limited funding” is available to NGOs providing psychological support.

In view of the fact that traffickers “increasingly using the internet to recruit and exploit victims”, GRETA says Malta should increase online anti-trafficking activities. These, it says, should include introducing “online covert operations” to identify traffickers and gather evidence for use in court cases.

The state should also build digital tools for investigations and strengthen cooperation with IT companies and internet service providers, it suggests.

The report notes that Malta has taken a series of steps to combat human trafficking in recent years. The country’s first strategy to fight human trafficking was launched in 2024, when the government launched the National Anti-Trafficking Strategy for 2024-2030.