Ivan Camilleri, Brussels
The basic rights of migrants must be protected to fight any cases of abuse, says EU
Migrants who work irregularly and are exploited by employers should be in a position to seek justice. Photo: Darrin Zammit Lupi
Irregular immigrants should be afforded data protection to fight exploitation by abusive employers and cheap labour, according to a report by the EU’s Fundamental Rights Agency.
Malta was generally mentioned positively in the report as a member state which respects the basic rights of migrants, including those without any sort of regular status on the island.
However, the agency suggests Malta adopt Spain’s example and provide migrants with data protection so that if they are exploited by abusive employers they can claim their rights without the fear of being deported.
The report, Migrants In An Irregular Situation In The EU, was released in Brussels yesterday.
It says Maltese law gives the right to all employees – including those employed irregularly, to be adequately paid, at least up to the level of a minimum wage. However, many immigrants are afraid of reporting abuses for fear they will be prosecuted instead for staying or working illegally.
Spain has a law on data protection, which does not allow the disclosure of personal data to the police, unless the case concerns a criminal offence punishable with imprisonment of more than one year.
Maltese law does not give any effective protection to abused irregular migrant workers even though it recognises their right to be paid adequately and to make claims against those abusing them.
The Employment and Industrial Relations Act in Malta provides a mechanism for claiming withheld pay that migrants, in an irregular situation, may also access provided an employment relationship can be proven. However, other parts of the law make this right difficult if not impossible to obtain in practice.
This situation is similar to the majority of other member states, which according to the agency, is encouraging the abuse and exploitation of irregular migrants as bosses know it is not in the migrants’ interest to report them.
As a response to this anomaly, the agency’s research found that when disputes arise between employers and employees, courts are only being used as a last resort to access justice.
Instead, a common strategy for migrants in an irregular situation is to switch employers and not to report mistreatment, discriminatory or abusive behaviour by employers.
The agency underlined the need for access to justice by irregular migrants to be bolstered by removing practical barriers. Additionally, member states with these anomalies, including Malta, should ensure “where possible, any personal data revealing migrants’ identity or whereabouts are not shared with immigration enforcement bodies when migrants seek redress from abusive employers”.
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George Vella
Nov 24th 2011, 03:25
I fully agree with the above article, but it is very easy to dictate from Brussels, the heart of the E.U. So in principle let us export all these poor emigrants to the protective great city of Brussels (New Rome). Then please tell me how you would handle this problem, when a small state like Malta had done its best, while you sit in your poshey armchairs and dictate. Remember the Roman Empire was lost on the same principles of the E.U. standards. A real united Europe should copy the principles, regarding democracy, that of United States of America.
Peter Kennedy
Nov 23rd 2011, 13:21
What these Liberal Socialist lackeys of the EU are doing is attempting to erode or wipe out the cultures traditions and Races within the EU so that we all will be like little robots all nodding our heads , Flooded with illegal immigrants who by this time will have more rights than ourselves,
When nations joined the EU they joined for the benefit of a common market and mutual trade agreements and for the direct benefits for their people, Not to have their culture diluted or eroded or to be flooded with immigrants who only want what they can get from us and who have no connections with our countries or no real interest in our cultures,
There is a limit to all things and I think we are nearing the point where we have to draw a heavy line and start sending these people back to where they came from.. At least this is the position in GB.
Ms Al Gatt
Nov 23rd 2011, 10:54
One may understand (though surely not agree) the negative sentiment towards migrants by some people. What I can't understand is this apologizing for people who exploit migrants at the place of work.
I don't know if people like Charles Sammut or Louise Vella have personal interest in the exploitation of migrants. Their comments only enjoyed by those who want people to work for them but aren't too enthusiastic to pay them for it. They will probably be the first to complain that "they take our jobs". Of course they do if the employer can get their labor for free - with impunity.
Charles Sammut
Nov 23rd 2011, 11:10
@ Ms Al Gatt
Your comprehension of the English language must be 'challenged' to use a politically correct term.
Not only you did not understand what I wrote, but speculated without basis, on what I think.
Ms Al Gatt
Nov 23rd 2011, 12:50
@Charles Sammut: It is you who misread "irregular" for "illegal", not me. And as a master of English language you must realise it makes a whole lot of a difference. They are not staying here illegally, neither is it illegal to employ them in the correct manner. It is illegal to exploit them though.
You are not completely at fault in misunderstanding MY comment though. The Times censored the part of my comment that may have been politically incorrect.
Joseph Calleja
Nov 23rd 2011, 16:32
Ms Al Gatt the term still remains "illegal emigrants" because they entered the country illegally. They came here very uninvited and not very welcome and they know that. (Hmar taqtalu denbu hmar jibqa." If you cut a donkey's tail it still remains a donkey. You can call me Joe, you can call me Schmoe, you know the rest. Ms Gatt you might be right that some employers are taking advantage of the situation but aren't these illegal immigrants doing the same thing to the Maltese people? They are exploiting the system and creating havoc among the Maltese people except in the case of the few sympathizers, or bleeding hearts.. I guess we all have our agenda to follow. Everybody is entitled to their own opinion, that is the democratic way.
Mr Joe Camilleri
Nov 23rd 2011, 09:31
What about the right that they would NOT ABUSE OUR SYSTEM
Charles Sammut
Nov 23rd 2011, 09:25
How about preventing the problem in the first place? How about making illegal immigration and people trafficking unattractive to lessen the problem?
What the EU is doing is exactly the opposite! These unelected Eurobrats have lost all touch with reality. Their motto seems to be "Save Europe by destroying it."
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/5994047/Muslim-Europe-the-demographic-time-bomb-transforming-our-continent.html
Louise Vella
Nov 23rd 2011, 09:09
By "migrants in an irregular situation" they mean illegal immigrants. They say that Malta's situation is the same as that in the majority of other EU member states. Then they say that Malta should do like Spain, which is in a minority of one. Why not the other way round? Why should Spain not follow the practice of the majority of EU member states, including Malta? This report shows how do-gooders proceed. First they encourage the influx of illegal immigrants. Then they defend them because they do jobs the locals no longer want to do. Then they try to raise the wages and conditions of illegal immigrants to the level of the legal local population.