29 Jun 2025
Malta: Migrant workers in cleaning, hospitality & gig economy charged high recruitment fees for jobs & subjected to labour rights violations after arrival
Summary
Date Reported: 29 Jun 2025
Location: Malta
Other
Not Reported ( Express delivery ) - EmployerAffected
Total individuals affected: Number unknown
Migrant & immigrant workers: ( Number unknown - Location unknown , Express delivery , Men , Unknown migration status )Issues
Recruitment Fees , Wage TheftResponse
Response sought: No
Source type: News outlet
Summary
Date Reported: 29 Jun 2025
Location: Malta
Other
Not Reported ( Recruitment agencies ) - Recruiter , Not Reported ( Restaurants & bars ) - EmployerAffected
Total individuals affected: Number unknown
Migrant & immigrant workers: ( Number unknown - Location unknown , Restaurants & bars , Men , Unknown migration status )Issues
Recruitment Fees , Harassment (other than sexual)Response
Response sought: No
Source type: News outlet
Summary
Date Reported: 29 Jun 2025
Location: Malta
Other
Not Reported ( Hotel ) - Employer , Not Reported ( Recruitment agencies ) - RecruiterAffected
Total individuals affected: Number unknown
Migrant & immigrant workers: ( Number unknown - Location unknown , Hospitality , Men , Undocumented migrants )Issues
Dismissal , Protection from arbitrary arrest, detention or exileResponse
Response sought: No
Source type: News outlet
Summary
Date Reported: 29 Jun 2025
Location: Malta
Other
Not Reported ( Recruitment agencies ) - EmployerAffected
Total individuals affected: Number unknown
Migrant & immigrant workers: ( Number unknown - Location unknown , Cleaning & maintenance , Women , Undocumented migrants )Issues
Contract Substitution , Irregular Work , Intimidation , Dismissal , Recruitment FeesResponse
Response sought: No
Action taken: Identità informed her that she was illegally residing in Malta. She is now contesting the termination.
Source type: News outlet
Summary
Date Reported: 29 Jun 2025
Location: Malta
Other
Not Reported ( Recruitment agencies ) - Recruiter , Not Reported ( Cleaning & maintenance ) - EmployerAffected
Total individuals affected: Number unknown
Migrant & immigrant workers: ( Number unknown - Location unknown , Cleaning & maintenance , Women , Unknown migration status )Issues
Dismissal , Recruitment Fees , Access to InformationResponse
Response sought: No
Source type: News outlet
“Lives shattered on the altar of greed: A glimpse into Malta’s slave labour”
MaltaToday meets several non-EU workers, who recount tales of abuse and desperation in a country where their wellbeing is left at the mercy of their employers…
Regularly dehumanised and subjected to slave-like working conditions, these are the labourers on which Malta’s economic success of the past decade has largely been built…
An overwhelming majority of workers, who spoke to MaltaToday found themselves unjustly sacked and eventually appealed their termination in front of the Immigration Appeals Board. This situation leaves them in legal limbo…
The appeals process is notoriously long…
Rajesh* came to Malta in 2022 after paying a recruitment agency €4,500. He started working as a food courier, delivering orders on a motorcycle to hungry Maltese households…
Amar* paid €6,000 to come to Malta in 2023 and his recruitment agency found him a job at a restaurant where he worked as a waiter. ..
Abela explains that a common pattern among abused workers from outside the EU is the practice of backdating terminations, adding that employers do this to spite their employees and effectively render them illegal immigrants immediately…