Until last Tuesday, “Jaiteh Lamin” was simply a pair of words put one near each other, completely anonymous.  Completely quiet, completely faceless.

After last Tuesday, “Jaiteh Lamin” became not only the name of a victim whose story entered into everyone’s hearts and minds but led to a collective awakening, as rude and as abrupt as the cruelty which surrounded what allegedly happened.

Suddenly a spotlight was put on the realities which a particular segment of migrant workers go through, with all its ramifications.  The media debated this story but, much more importantly, people talked about it in their homes and on their workplaces.

The picture of the injured young 32-year-old man from Ghana left abandoned on the pavement in a street in Mellieha after falling two storeys at a building site he was working on touched the heart of many.  It later transpired that the contractor who abandoned him allegedly had promised to take him to hospital.

However, allegedly the contractor eventually pulled him out of the van Lamin was placed into after the fall and ditched him on the side of a road.

It had to be a certain Caroline Galea who, along with another three people, discovered the worker by chance, gave him assistance and even visited him in hospital where he is now recovering from his injuries.  Later it transpired that Mr Lamin was being paid 50 euro to work 11 hours a day.

I wish Mr Lamin a speedy recovery and that the perpetrators are brought to face justice.

What happened is not the Malta we believe in.  What happened is the exact opposite of what we believe in.

We believe that the Maltese society should be one that is built on the principles of human rights, equality and non-discrimination.

Hands on heart in the last years, we have achieved great milestones with regard to equality: these include the Marriage Equality Act; the Gender-Based Violence and Domestic Violence Act; the Gender Identity Act and the Banning of Conversion Practices Act. Yesterday we launched the first-ever anti-racism strategy.

Nevertheless, as the episode surrounding what allegedly happened to Mr Lamin tells us, we absolutely cannot sit back.  There is so much which still needs to be done. The principles of human rights, equality and non-discrimination require daily efforts and serious commitment. In this regard, this government will keep working assiduously towards the attainment of a more equal society in Malta.

One of the things we have to absolutely tackle head-on is that Malta keeps experiencing on an EU level among the lowest levels of reporting of discrimination by victims and amongst the lowest levels of awareness of the existence of the equality body and equality legislation.

Precisely because of this, our Ministry is participating in and owning a project called ‘Equality for All in Malta’ which has the aim of addressing the lack of reporting of cases of discrimination on the grounds of race and / or ethnic origin and religion or belief.  If anyone needs to be convinced about how important the participation in this project is, all he or she needs to do is to remember what Mr Lamin unfortunately passed through.

Through this project, we are organising training sessions to members of racial, ethnic and religious minorities to empower them to effectively enjoy their rights and remedies. By remedies, I do not only refer to existing remedies but also to the new remedies, which will be applicable as soon as the Equality Bill and the Human Rights & Equality Commission Bill become laws.  Incidentally, I am committed to have these Bills passed through Parliament as soon as possible.

The training provided by our Project partners: aditus foundation, ENAR and ENORB (who I thank for their support) includes awareness of Maltese and EU equality law as well as advocacy training. Not only we are equipping people with the necessary tools for them to use when they encounter a case of discrimination, we are also training them how to deliver their message effectively.

The project also caters for the creation of an Addendum to the existing Local Integration Charter. This will strengthen the relation between the Human Rights Directorate and Local Councils in our work to promote multiculturalism, diversity, anti-racism and respect for religion or belief. Both the Human Rights Directorate within our Ministry, and Local Councils resolve to encourage local clubs as well as other institutions to contribute to achieve this aim. I am proud to say that the Addendum is ready for signature and will enter into force in the coming days.

Through the Project we will adopt an outreach model to target the grassroots to ensure awareness of equality and non-discrimination legislation as well as the remedies in cases of discrimination at the grassroot level. In turn this will result in empowerment and ownership of the principle of equality.

I would also like to thank the Human Rights Directorate for their work, dedication and commitment towards strengthening human rights for all in Malta and the ‘Equality for All in Malta’ Project team for their work to ensure that this Project be a success.

We truly believe in the principles of non-discrimination and equality and their actuation in society.  For people like me, those principles are not simply buzz-words but mission statements and, personally, the main reason why I entered into public life and Labour in my teenage years.

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This was also the reason why a lot of members of the Socialist and Democrats in the European Parliament decided to enter public life.

As I had the opportunity to discuss during the various positive meetings I had with a number of S&D MEPs who presently are in Malta for their meeting, the fight against inequality is what makes us work hard for a more Social Europe.

Social democracy this week in Europe was bolstered by positive and welcome news from Germany.  I congratulate SPD on their success in the polls.

The more Social democratic parties win majorities in Europe, the more the vision of a more Social and Equal Europe can be achieved.