Claims Filipino fishermen will flood industry

HUNDREDS of illegal Filipino fishermen may be set to flood into the Irish industry as Britain plans to deport huge numbers believed to be working there illegally.

There are estimated to be about 1,800 Filipinos working on British and Irish registered vessels. Of those, 600 are believed to be working here. None of them have been issued with the work permits they require to operate legally in Ireland. They are arriving into Britain on transit visas issued by the British Embassy in Manila.

That allows them to travel through Britain to board a merchant ship. In reality they are either disappearing illegally onto Scottish and English fishing vessels not covered by the visa or being flown to Belfast and there travel across the border and put onto vessels operating around the Irish coastline.

Ken Fleming, of the International Transport Federation (ITF), which fights for the rights of exploited seafarers, says the Irish authorities are simply turning a blind eye to the problem.

He said he has petitioned both the Garda National Immigration Bureau and the Department of Enterprise, to tackle the exploitation of the seafarers but to no avail.

The lack of any enforcement has lead several manning agencies to be set up here for the purposes of supplying Filipino fishermen without work permits to the industry. One such agency is Dublin-based Ventura Shipping Ltd run by Ciaran Lawless. Mr Lawless has admitted to the Irish Examiner that “to be fully compliant” Filipino fishermen should have work permits and so are working here illegally.

But he described it as a grey area about which he was in contact with the local authorities. He admitted he could be open to investigation. However, according to the ITF, Mr Lawless is one of the few agents supplying foreign fishermen to the Irish industry who is paying anywhere close to the minimum wage. While he ensures the boat-owners to whom he supplies labour pays €47.50 a day to the men, many other agents are happy if their men are paid as little as $550 (about €400) a month.

Such exploitation has lead the UK Border Force to claim “vulnerable” overseas fishermen in England and Wales are being exploited there and to plan to deport hundreds who are in the countries illegally.

According to Mr Fleming, with the British market all but closed off to them, hundreds more Filipinos will be Ireland-bound.