Eager migrants willing to take up any job offered to them are repeatedly being exploited by employers in a practice akin to slave labour, NGOs warned yesterday.
We know of migrants who have not been paid, dismissed without notice, beaten up or work long hours without any break
The news that African migrants had been hired by street vendors to queue up outside the Floriana local council day and night to obtain a permit was “upsetting but not shocking,” Integra Foundation director Maria Pisani said.
“There are asylum seekers who are living in such dire poverty and desperate conditions that they are forced to take up any work to survive. And clearly there are people who are prepared to exploit this vulnerability as a source of cheap labour to serve their own economic interests.”
Floriana mayor Nigel Holland said on Friday that street vendors were hiring African migrants to stay in line for them after 400 applications were submitted for 79 street vending stalls for yesterday’s mass meeting on the Granaries.
Some asylum seekers, Dr Pisani said, work regularly, pay tax and national insurance, and are therefore able to achieve a degree of stability. However, the majority rely on irregular, short-term and undignified work.
“They have no financial safety net. Unlike any Maltese who ends up jobless, they can’t fall back on family members or rely on benefits. They are willing to take up literally any job offered them, which in turn leaves them in a very vulnerable and exploitable position.”
According to Dr Pisani, there are two ways of helping to alleviate the abuse carried out by employers. The first change should address racism, with a seismic shift in many people’s mentalities being essential.
As beneficiaries of international protection, the EU Qualification Directive states that the migrants are entitled to “core welfare benefits”.
“The Government needs to incorporate this directive. At present, once a person leaves the open centre, he does not receive any form of financial assistance. Revisiting the present scenario would be a concrete way of addressing this vulnerability and exploitation and ensuring some kind of dignity,” Dr Pisani said.
Contacted yesterday, General Workers’ Union general secretary Tony Zarb estimated many migrants were paid around €3 per hour for construction work, refuse collection or cleaning.
“The sector should definitely be regulated – for instance, many migrants have no insurance cover in case they are injured. The problem is that they do not approach us to report any breaches.”
According to Aditus director Neil Falzon, migrants’ working conditions and treatment in Malta was an unchartered area which needed to be mapped out.
The Department of Industrial and Employment Relations, the Occupational Health and Safety Authority and the Employment and Training Corporation should all be tasked with closely examining migrant exploitation.
“We know of migrants who have been exploited in so many ways – migrants who have not been paid, not provided with adequate safety equipment, dismissed without a notice period, beaten up, or work long hours without any break.
“Nevertheless, many migrants feel they don’t have a right to complain. But irrespective of a migrant’s legal status – and I stress this – employment laws still apply.”
According to Dr Falzon, it is the role and duty of the Labour Office and the trade unions to safeguard the migrants.
Competent authorities should undertake studies investigating the way Maltese employers treated migrants. Areas of employment should be identified, as well as the drafting of contracts. All migrants should be taken into consideration, including Eastern Europeans, Filipinos and Chinese.
“The kind of action to be taken when employers do not respect the employment legislation should also be determined.
“I don’t think the authorities are very aware of what is going on within the field of migrants and employment.”