The Non-Resident Nepali Association in Malta is calling for a labour bilateral agreement between Malta and Nepal, Europe Youth Coordinator for NRNA Prakash Bhandari told the Malta Independent on Sunday.

He said that such an agreement would better facilitate immigration of his co-nationals to Malta, as these people would have a clearer referral system to make their way over and settle here.

Over the past years the number of Nepalese workers who have come to Malta for employment purposes has increased. Their community in Malta has grown as has that of nationals from other countries, such as India and The Philippines. To come here, TCNs have to go through a rigorous process, which sometimes is disheartening because of its length and bureaucracy.

Bhandari said that the Nepalese government has already signed similar agreements with several other countries such as with Germany, Croatia and Romania. Now the Nepalese association wants a similar arrangement with Malta.

Together with Bhandari, the Malta Independent on Sunday also met NRNA Malta President Rems Khanal.

Khanal disclosed how the association just last month received around 200 complaints from Nepalese workers who reside in Malta.

He said that one of the main problems they are facing is the termination of employment without prior notice.

He explained that when such a situation occurs, the now unemployed third nationals have a maximum of only 10 days to find a new employer and start the process to acquire another residency permit, since the previous one would have been on the original employer.

The issue is further exacerbated by the fact that entities such as Identita (formerly Identity Malta) and the new employer sometimes take more time process to provide the documents that are needed.

“When this happens, Identita’ just informs the person that they are an irregular migrant now as more than 10 days would have passed” since the termination of the employment, he said.

In a recent court judgment in the case of Alyasif Bhatti vs Identity Malta Agency, the court said that it is the employer’s obligation to submit necessary paperwork on time.

Reflecting of the bureaucracy of the process of acquiring a residency permit, Khanal also spoke about a very recent case he came across where a man could not vising his dying mother because he does not have the necessary paperwork to enter back into Malta lawfully.

He said that residency permit renewals, sometimes even take between 7-10 months. When Nepalese contact NRNA, the association can do nothing apart from emailing the employer and Identita’ to highlight the issue, “but they ignore us”.

Bhandari said that since 2016, the year he came over to Malta, the costs to travel to Malta and settle down legally has risen sharply. It takes a minimum of €2,000 to come to Malta and pay for the necessary documentation, they said.

This is a considerable sum, when taking into consideration that the average monthly wage in Nepal stands at €515, they added.

The costs will further increase when the new skills card system is introduced. As from next January, non-EU workers who seek employment in the tourism catering industry will require to undergo a series of courses to obtain a permit to work in Malta. This will come at a cost of €575 to each individual, and will be an extra burden on those wanting employment in this industry.

Given that many TCNs who come to Malta end up working in the hospitality industry, Khanal said that the cost of €575 is too much.

Another issue, they said, is that if an application from a TCN to come to Malta refused, the person automatically loses €1,000 and has no way of recovering those funds.

Turning to accommodation, Khanal said that apart from the issues pertaining to the paperwork bureaucracy, for a TCN to be granted a permit to reside in Malta they need to provide a physical address. Again, this is a process that takes too long, the two representatives argued.

They also expressed concern at the way some of their compatriots are being treated by people who are renting out their property. They have come across situations of five people sharing a small bedroom, which is certainly not an ideal situation.

Khanal said that owners are renting out their property at around €250 per bed per month, rather than by apartment.

On his part, Bhandari said that up until around a year ago, he was able to rent a three bedroom apartment for his family at around €700 per month; “now it’s €1,500 for the same number of bedrooms”.

“If you increase rent, you also have to increase the wages,” said Khanal.

During the budget speech last Monday, Finance Minister Clyde Caruana said that next year the government will regulate temping agency workers (of which the majority are non-EU) for them to benefit from the equal pay for equal work concept as their European colleagues, including bonuses and basic pay.

However, in an interview earlier this year, PN MP Ivan Castillo told the Malta independent on Sunday, that this issue has already been tackled in legal notice 272 dating back to 2018. Given that the legal notice is law it should have been introduced in the main legislative text, however this was never done.

With the said amendment, the law was to be corrected and give temporary agency workers, who  are mostly non-EU workers, the right to equal pay, after four weeks of filling the supposedly “temporary role.”