Twenty dockyard workers have filed lawsuits claiming that government authorities violated their human rights by withholding vital information that exposure to asbestos was lethal.

The workers, some now retired, claim their rights to life and to information were infringed.

They also claim breaches of their right to a private and family life and their right not to be subjected to inhuman and degrading treatment.

The suits were filed last Thursday against the Malta Shipyards policy manager in the Transport Ministry, the director general of Public Health, director general of the Health and Safety Authority, and the Attorney General.

More applications are expected to be filed this week.

Ships containing asbestos in their structures were entering the dockyard as recently as the late 1990s, one of the lawyers representing the workers said.

Asbestos is a mineral fibre that was used in different building construction materials for insulation and as a fire-retardant. The fibres are too small to be visible but if inhaled can accumulate in the lungs.

The substance can cause lung cancer, mesothelioma, which is a cancer of the chest and abdominal linings, and asbestosis, irreversible lung scarring that can be fatal. Symptoms of these diseases do not show up until many years after exposure.

The workers argue that the hazardous effects of asbestos were well-known for decades and pointed out that, together with the exposure, the authorities' failure to inform them was "shameful and debasing".

They claim they were all affected by their exposure to the deadly substance and have medical records to back their case.

The applications were signed by lawyers Juliette Galea and Alistair de Gaetano.

In 1989, an International Labour Organisation Asbestos Convention came into force. The ILO estimates that 100,000 people die each year from work-related asbestos exposure. In the US, hundreds of thousands of injury claims have been filed since the 1970s for deaths, cancers and other health problems related to asbestos exposure, bankrupting dozens of US companies.

The General Workers' Union has also taken up the case of dockyard workers who were affected by asbestos and, two months ago, organised two information meetings.

Addressed by American lawyer Mitchell Cohen, the meetings gave families or victims the opportunity to clarify questions about their compensation claims against US companies that supplied the ships with the deadly material.