A former employee at Chinese state-owned textile manufacturer Leisure Clothing was repeatedly warned that complaining was futile and that it could only result in her repatriation.
Duong Thi Lien, who arrived in Malta in February 2014 and spent nine months working there, said she had left her husband and child in Vietnam to move to Malta, where the pay she had been promised was much higher.
But after the first month, she realised that the pay was much less than the promised monthly minimum wage of €685, since she was only paid €370 for 14-hour days. She was also receiving an additional €150 in cash every two months.
But Magistrate Carol Peralta questioned a payslip she exhibited in court, which showed a total of nearly €1,600 for four months of work, which excluded the cash given to each employee every two months.
This shows exploitation and abuse but not slavery
The magistrate questioned Ms Duong’s failure to do anything about her situation for months on end, with the witness stressing that she feared being sent back to Vietnam without being given the money she was owed. “This shows exploitation and abuse but not slavery,” the angry magistrate told lawyer Katrine Camilleri, who is appearing for the alleged victims.
Dr Camilleri replied that there were no charges of slavery in the case brought against company managing director Han Bin, a 46-year-old naturalised Maltese citizen who lives in San Ġwann, and marketing director Jia Liu, a 31-year-old Chinese national.
They stand charged with trafficking nine Vietnamese women for the purpose of labour exploitation, misappropriating money owed to them and failing to comply with employment regulations.
Ms Duong noted that her inability to understand Chinese or English left her unable to do much about her situation. She did speak to a fellow worker, who spoke both Chinese and Vietnamese, only to be told it would be useless to complain.
She had paid an agency around €3,000 to secure a job as a sewing machine operator.
The case continues on June 11.
Police inspector Sylvana Briffa prosecuted, while lawyers Pio Valletta and Edward Gatt appeared for Mr Han and Mr Liu.