Human Rights groups in Ireland have called for urgent action to protect undocumented migrants in the country’s fishing fleet after it emerged that an Egyptian worker was arrested and detained by police in the port of Union Hall, County Cork, on Wednesday because he was unable to produce his documents.
The arrest of Mohamed Elfallah follows a Guardian investigation that uncovered the illegal use of some undocumented migrant workers from Africa and Asia on Irish trawlers, in apparent breach of safety, employment and immigration regulations. The investigation also found evidence that some workers appeared to be victims of human trafficking.
Following our revelations, the Irish cabinet swiftly established an interdepartmental taskforce to look at the treatment of migrant fishermen. Its first meeting, held on Thursday, was chaired by Simon Coveney, the minister for agriculture, food and the marine and the body will meet again on 12 November.
On Tuesday, Coveney said on the Irish TV station RTÉ that he wanted to find a way of regularising fishermen working on prawn and whitefish trawlers who lacked immigration status, rather than having a witch-hunt unfold that could lead to their deportation.
The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission urged the government to “take steps to regularise the status of vulnerable non-EU nationals in the maritime sector”. It said that the system currently puts too heavy a burden of proof on alleged victims of human trafficking and called for the state to use NGOs to help identify them rather than relying on the police.
“The involvement of the same police officer investigating a person under the criminal law while also dealing with the application of that person for recognition as a victim of trafficking represents a conflict,” said the commission in a statement.
The migrant support group in Cork, Nasc, said it was appalled at the arrest of Elfallah. “The state’s first official response to the investigation into exploitation of migrant workers in the Irish fishing industry appears to have been to arrest a vulnerable fisherman. Minister Coveney publicly stated that a witch-hunt against these vulnerable workers should not ensue but that now seems to be the case,” said Fiona Finn, Nasc’s chief executive officer.
The Migrant Rights Centre Ireland, which said it had been dealing with cases of exploitation of migrant fishermen in the country for more than 15 years, added its weight to calls that the victims should not be persecuted. It said there should be an amnesty for those already in the country.
However, Marian Harkin, an Irish independent MEP, argued that surprise inspections to eliminate any illegal activity were vital to protect the reputation of the many boat owners in the industry who were operating honestly.
“While the minister’s taskforce has an important job in devising a solution to the labour and skills shortage in the fishing industry, he must recognise that the immediate need is to identify and eliminate any illegal activity that may exist”, she said.
“This should involve surprise inspections in the immediate weeks ahead with penalties applied, commensurate with the threat posed to the country’s reputation and its valuable fish export business. The honest guys can’t compete.”
In what appeared to be a U-turn, the Irish jobs minister Richard Bruton invited the chief executive of the Irish Fish Producers’ Organisation, Francis O’Donnell, to discuss granting work permits to non-EU nationals, according to O’Donnell.
“A work permit doesn’t mean that people can continue to be mistreated. What has been revealed [by the Guardian] is totally unacceptable and it has to be addressed. This is a wake-up call for the industry, and for the Irish government as well,” said O’Donnell.
The department for the marine said it could not comment on police operations. The department for jobs confirmed that it was in discussion with the IFP and said that solutions would be for the taskforce to decide.
Elfallah, who appeared in court on Thursday in his yellow fishing boots, having spent the night in the local police station, was bailed to appear in Skibbereen court in December. The charges are not yet known.
- This article was amended on 6 November to correct the erroneous attribution of Nasc’s statement on the arrest of Mohamed Elfallah. The statement was provided by Fiona Finn, not Fiona Hurley, as was originally stated.
