The consultation on the Malta Labour Migration Policy did not stop with the end of the public consultation, during which more than 300 submissions were made by the public, but is still ongoing with a number of interested parties.
Partners who are continuing to come forward with their ideas, also from their specific experience in a number of sectors, so that this policy continues to be strengthened. The latest meetings, which follow others in recent days, were with different representatives from the aviation industry and with the Malta Football Players Association.
Meetings about which the Minister for Home Affairs, Security and Employment Byron Camilleri said that the country moves forward by recognizing the times and implementing changes that yield results in the present and in the future and that the Malta Labour Migration Policy is a testament to this. “Proud of the economic progress our country has made and the opportunities that have been created in recent years, which have seen Maltese people enter new fields and advance in their careers, today we must also place greater emphasis on productivity. We must produce more, if possible with less. In our case, guided by the fact that we have the fastest growing economy in Europe, with the need to strengthen productivity we can and are also emphasising the need to strengthen workers’ rights and the need that if and when permission is granted for more foreign workers this is only done in a way that benefits society as a whole.”
It was for this purpose that as a government, we put forward 32 clear recommendations guided by four clear principles. The partners responded by contributing positively to this consultation, some of them with studied documents that were presented in dozens of meetings held on this policy.
Minister Byron Camilleri explained that “It was clear how much this was a document that was welcomed and appreciated, while those who came to discuss it came up with concrete proposals on how to change or improve certain recommendations. As a government, we have an obligation that the final decision be the one that, while creating a balance, is the one that best achieves the common good, the one that benefits society as a whole.”
He concluded that as we showed last year, by controlling the numbers, where new workers from third countries were cancelled out by those who left and the economy continued to grow strongly, now we must continue to implement the necessary change.
Photo: MHSE
