Crisis At Identity Malta: Desperate Foreigners Are Sleeping Outside All Night Just To Get A Work Permit
If you happen to be passing by Evans Building in Valletta late at night, you might very well spot a group of people sleeping outside.
These aren’t homeless people, but foreign workers going the extra mile to be first in line to enter Identity Malta’s doors the next morning in the hope of acquiring a permit that would allow them to legally work on the island.
Fed up with the state of play, a group of people today hung protest placards on the railings of Evans Building, which quoted a letter that Prime Minister Joseph Muscat had sent foreigners on the eve of last month’s MEP election.
“We are very grateful for you choosing to make Malta your home whether it is temporary or forever. I want to be clear,” the Prime Minister had said. “If you want to be here and contribute to our country’s success, then you are very welcome.”
The quote is followed by tongue-in-cheek commentary: “We are in fact so grateful, that we ask you to join the queue, in the baking hot sun and take a number. IF you are lucky, you will be seen today. If not come back tomorrow. You may wait 4-6 hours, you may wait overnight, you may lose a day’s wages standing in this queue, BUT you are very welcome”.
The placards weren’t up for long, and were quickly pulled down by security guards.
Identity Malta has long been a bureaucratic headache for foreign workers and, as the island promotes itself as a global employment hub, the situation seems to be getting worse.
The agency is only open between 7:30am and 2pm (winter time) and, on a daily basis, issues a maximum of 120 tickets for people seeking new work permits and 100 tickets for people who want to renew their work permits. Each application costs €280.50 and must be accompanied by a hefty load of paperwork, including evidence from the employer that efforts were made to hire a Maltese or EU citizen before hiring a third country national.
And as Malta becomes increasingly popular among job-seeking third country nationals, the situation is fast becoming untenable
Activist Patricia Graham visited Identity Malta this morning and said that over 100 people had already congregated by 5am and that the crowd size had doubled by 6am, with the queue stretching to the bottom of Merchants’ Street.
And although this was an hour and a half before Identity Malta’s gates opened, some of these workers would have already been too late and will have to try again the following morning.
“You get people staring at the gates and counting heads, then guessing if they will be seen,” Graham said
A spokesperson for Identity Malta confirmed that the agency is revisiting its procedures and opening hours and is in the process of recruiting additional personnel.
“Although there is a ticketing system in place at the Expatriates Unit, Identity Malta is doing its best to attend to all those queuing during its office opening hours,” he said.
He added that an online platform will soon be launched that will enable still-abroad applicants to submit their single permit application electronically, while an online appointment system will be deployed to reduce queueing times. In the coming weeks, Identity Malta, with the aid of the employers’ and industry representatives, will set up a new base where employers can submit applications for the engagement of third-country nationals outside its offices.
Photos and video: Patricia Graham
