A total of 1,296 irregular migrants were officially employed in Malta, as at the end of September 2014, either in full or part-time jobs.

The figures provided by the Employment and Training Corporation show that only 177 of these were refugees, with the others having various categories of status (see table).

The UN High Commission for Refugees estimates that less than 30 per cent of the around 19,000 who arrived by boat from Libya since 2002 remain in Malta. That means that fewer than one in four are working – at least officially.

Beneficiaries of protection have a right to a travel document and many opt to leave Malta on their own initiative. Over 2,800 beneficiaries of protection have been resettled or relocated to the US and other EU member states.

However, it is difficult to gauge the economic contribution being made by the working migrants, as the Inland Revenue Department tags them along with the rest of expatriates working in Malta and therefore does not have any data on their contributions.

The number of those who work is only one aspect of the issue, however. It is just as important to consider the jobs that these migrants are taking up and the director of the Emigrants’ Commission, Fr Alfred Vella, believes that many of them are underemployed, taking up jobs that bear little or no relation to their experience and qualifications. This is partly an issue of what employers want – most need workers to do menial jobs in construction and cleaning – and partly the fact that migrants can rarely substantiate their claims to technical or even professional skills.

Best being lost to resettlement

“Certificates are a problem. And even when these are available, it is not always possible to ascertain their equivalence in Malta. The BICC is creating a Skills Card which would allow them to be assessed to ascertain their proficiency – but this is not yet available,” Fr Vella said.

There are a number of initiatives in place to help migrants find work: all those with a subsidiary protection status can apply for a work licence. Charities are donating €30 out of the €58 fee that they have to pay to get a work permit.

The commission has a volunteer at the Marsa Open Centre to help them find jobs, and Alex Tortell, the operations director at the Agency for the Welfare of Asylum Seekers, said that although there was no formal project for work placements in open centres, all welfare staff (social workers etc.) focused on employment as a priority area.

Another problem is the wage they are paid

Another problem is the wage they are paid. Even though they should be paid at least minimum wage, there is still some abuse, although considerably less than there was a few years ago. A case highlighted by Times of Malta in 2013 concerned eight migrants who worked as garbage sorters with a contractor engaged by Wasteserv, a government waste management agency. They were paid just over €8,400 annually when Maltese employees earned €11,300 a year.

There are occasional stories that offer hope: six migrants from the open centre are studying as mature students, one at the University and five at Mcast. And of course, there are numerous children attending school and are working their way through the educational systems.

Fr Vella is all in favour of these efforts to improve their chances of survival – but is also concerned that Malta is losing an economic opportunity.

“The ones who do best are the ultimately also the ones who have the best chance to benefit from resettlement programmes. I think, we are losing some of the best, being left with those who have humanitarian protection status or who are failed asylum seekers.”