A migrant worker's death in hospital before he could be identified was "utterly and absolutely unacceptable" and reflected a lack of accountability and responsibility, the humanitarian group MOAS said on Tuesday.
Ahmed Adawe Diriye, a Somali man residing in Malta, fell the height of one and a half storeys while working on the roof of a factory in Marsa on December 22. He was identified on Monday, days after he succumbed to his injuries, when nurses reportedly identified him from pictures of a 'missing' person issued by the police.
The African Media Organisation of Malta reported on Monday that Diriye was recruited on December 20 from the Marsa roundabout, a place where migrants meet in the hope of being offered jobs. According to a friend, Diriye was recruited to work on solar panels.
This horrific incident, MOAS founder Regina Catrambone said, mirrored in many respects the case of Lamin Jaiteh, a worker who was injured in a construction site and left in the road. He is currently recovering and is being supported by the NGO.
"The principle issue raised is not just one of health and safety, but also of accountability and responsibility following incidents in the workplace. It is unacceptable that anyone working in any industry should be exposed to hazardous and life-threatening working conditions, regardless of who they are," MOAS said.
An equally concerning issue was the worker's apparent "anonymity" to the staff caring for him at Mater Dei.
This indicated that Diriye’s identity was either unknown to his employers and colleagues, implying that he was engaged in all-too-common unregulated and underpaid labour, or that they did not do adequate duty of care following his accident to properly communicate basic details to the Mater Dei team.
"Regardless of political posturing or position, it is utterly and absolutely unacceptable that these kinds of incidents continue to occur without triggering widespread reform to the regularisation and monitoring of employment terms and working conditions in Malta. It is time for civil society to call on political representatives to change the law around employment monitoring and to create more opportunities for protected and regularised work for all," the NGO said.
Private entities need themselves to hold irresponsible employers giving their industries a bad name to account. NGOs need to come together in advocating and lobbying for those being continually exploited and endangered.