As the world marks Refugee Week, Sarah Carabott catches up with Agnes Mudembo, who five years ago was flown to Malta and paid a monthly €250 for a seven-day-a-week job.

In the past five years, Agnes Mudembo was granted refugee status, reunited with her children and completed a University of Malta nursing course.

But despite being given the go-ahead to settle in Malta, Agnes is not allowed to work within the public health sector.

“What is the purpose of giving me protection and allowing me to call Malta my home when I cannot access the job I invested all my efforts in?” the 44-year-old asks.

“What is the purpose of allowing me to be reunited with my children, settle here, study at the local university, train within local hospitals, to then stop me from being of service to the country when there is a shortage of nurses?”

In 2020, Times of Malta had reported on the journey Agnes went through after the former housekeeper was flown from Zimbabwe to Kuwait with her employer in 2016, leaving behind her three children.

It had become increasingly difficult for Agnes – who had trained as a maid, nanny, and carer – to work in Zimbabwe, with compatriots threatening they would snatch her family’s land if she continued caring for her employees, perceived to be part of the political opposition.

After a year in Kuwait, Agnes flew to Malta with her boss, where she was given a salary of just €250 a month for a job that required her to do everything from cooking to gardening, seven days a week. When she fled her exploiter, her new boss – a Maltese national – paid her €750 a month to cook, babysit, shop, clean the house and the car. She was told to eat leftovers and, when she fell ill, had to sleep in a bathroom for a week.

When she finally managed to get out of the web of exploitation with the help of police and Maltese NGOs, Agnes was granted refugee status because of the threat of harm in her country.

Three years on, she tells Times of Malta how she juggled two jobs, studied at MCAST, saved enough to rent her own place, and assisted her husband to come to Malta with a work permit. She then set out on being reunited with her children and started a Bachelor of Science in Nursing at the University of Malta.

But when last February, she joined other third-year students in applying for a post of staff nurse within the Malta Public Service, she received a rejection letter.

When she appealed, Agnes was told that applicants need to be citizens of Malta or the EU, UK nationals in possession of a Brexit agreement with Malta, third-country nationals who have been granted long-term resident status in Malta or entitled to equal treatment to Maltese citizens in matters related to employment.

I wanted to give something back to the country, so I was looking forward to being of service within the public sector

The health authorities told her she was ineligible because as a non-EU national, she had not proven she was granted long-term resident status in Malta or that she was married to an EU national. Having a refugee status, they confirmed, did not make her eligible for the post.

Times of Malta asked the government whether it planned on revising the regulations on access to public positions that would allow refugees to obtain jobs in the public sector.

An OPM spokesperson said calls for applications to fill vacancies in the health sector within the Malta Public Service are issued “separately and regularly”, specifically for third-country nationals.

On June 16, such a call for applications was issued for staff nurses.

Human-rights lawyers, however, insist this does not give refugees equal access to jobs within the public sector. While they have to wait for such calls, these vacancies are subject to union approval. Additionally, such calls are limited to health vacancies. No such calls are issued for other jobs within the public sector, such as police, teaching, clerical, and so on.

‘I don’t know how I made it through my first and second year’

Agnes’s refusal comes on the back of a two-year struggle to bring her three children to Malta.

She applied for family reunification in 2019 but, for two years, she heard nothing.

“As the months rolled on, I came close to giving up. I was willing to give up on everything and return to Zimbabwe to be with my children.

“I thought I would rather die surrounded by my children than remain here without them. There was no point for me to have refugee status if my children were not with me. I did not lie in submitting the refugee protection application: I told them I had three children.

I would rather die by my children than remain here without them

“And when COVID hit, I was also overcome by motherly guilt knowing I could get vaccinated but they couldn’t. I started sinking into depression.”

The authorities eventually said they would issue a visa for the youngest ones aged six and 15. They were asked to travel to Egypt, which they did with their oldest sister, aged 25, who was then granted a work permit in Malta.

However, once they arrived in Egypt, they faced another struggle: Agnes and her husband were asked to travel to Egypt to accompany the children to Malta – only Egypt was a red country in terms of COVID risks.

“I don’t know how I made it through the first and second years of my nursing course. I was present in class, but always checking e-mails to see if my children would be allowed to travel to Malta. I was studying, working to cover their travelling expenses and rent, completing a placement at Mount Carmel Hospital, dealing with a marriage breakdown, and fighting for my children.

“After two long years, I got a call with the go-ahead while I was on a bus on my way home from work…  and once my children were here, I felt whole again. So, I persisted in my studies.

“I felt that despite what I had gone through, Malta was the only place that gave me hope and the Maltese were, ultimately, the ones who helped me. I wanted to give something back to the country, so I was looking forward to being of service within the public sector.”

Agnes, who is interested in specialising in genitourinary medicine, notes that her application refusal comes at a time of nursing shortage, while the government is already indirectly employing third-country nationals through agencies.

Call for change

Throughout, Agnes has been supported by Aditus foundation’s Neil Falzon and Jesuit Refugee Service’s Katrine Camilleri.

A few years ago, the two human-rights lawyers called on the government to revise the regulations on access to public positions that prevent refugees from obtaining jobs in the public sector. They believe that allowing refugees to access public positions would send a clear message that Malta is truly committed to refugee integration.  

In 2023, the situation remains the same.

Falzon said the island was home to refugees who have lived here for several years – some more than five – and who have made incredible steps towards becoming part of our community.

“Despite their efforts and successes, they are excluded from even applying to join the public service. We don’t see much sense in this distinction, as it refuses to consider individual circumstances and instead adopts a cruel and blind exclusion of people.

“Agnes’s story is one of amazing bravery and resilience. In the face of all odds, she is now graduating as a nurse and wants to dedicate her life to helping others. Simply because she is a refugee, she is not a welcome member of our public service. How can we expect Agnes, and others like her, to integrate when we constantly tell them they are not wanted?”

Agnes’ story is one of amazing bravery and resilience... simply because she is a refugee, she is not a welcome member of our public service

Camilleri said like many other refugees, among them nurses, doctors, and teachers, Agnes was a victim of Malta’s restrictive laws and policies on access to public service positions.

These laws make no distinction between refugees and other third-country nationals, although, at law, refugees are in a special category, having been granted a right to remain in Malta because they cannot return to their country safely. 

She explained that when there is a call for applications for a public service position, only third-country nationals with long-term residence status can apply. All other third-country nationals are excluded: they will need to wait for a specific call even if they are refugees.

“These calls, which, in the case of at least some professions, are subject to union approval, are rarely issued. So, people like Agnes, who want to contribute to the country that gave them protection, are effectively precluded from doing so,” she said.

“As we review Malta’s national integration strategy, we urge the government to move beyond words to action, and to allow refugees and beneficiaries of protection to truly belong.”