Fishing workers ‘trafficked’

There have been calls for increased measures to protect migrant workers on fishing boats after an article in The Guardian newspaper alleged some people were working “inhuman hours” and may be the victims of people trafficking.

The lengthy article looked at the Irish prawn and whitefish sector and alleged undocumented Ghanaian, Filipino, Egyptian, and Indian fishermen were working on Irish boats, with some claiming they had been trafficked into the country.

In what the paper described as a “catalogue of abuses”, it was claimed many of the workers entered the country via Belfast on UK transit visas.

One man interviewed, Demie Omol, a 39-year-old migrant worker from the Philippines who now lives in Cork City, said of his experiences: “It was continuous working, day and night. I had no holidays or rest days. We had to prepare gear, fix cables, stitch the nets. It was constant, constant.”

The boat owners in that case told The Guardian they vehemently denied the allegations.

In its response to The Guardian, the Department of Justice said a range of measures had been put in place to ensure workers were protected. It said the maritime industry “has been identified as an area of potentially high risk for human trafficking due to the nature of the work in the sector” but that a garda-led project had been set up specifically to address those concerns.

Ken Fleming of the International Transport Federation said the article needed to be “a wake-up call”. He said the Department of the Marine had increased its efforts but needed to do more, alongside immigration monitoring and more work on ensuring labour laws are properly policed.

Among those quoted in the article is Fiona Hurley, legal officer with the Cork-based immigrant support centre Nasc. Yesterday, she said: “We have been aware for some time from our work with undocumented migrants that this has been happening, however it’s very much a hidden phenomenon.

“Lack of supports, lack of awareness of rights among victims, lack of knowledge of existing measures among agencies, as well as lack of inter-agency co-ordination has meant that those who are victims of trafficking and labour exploitation are not being properly identified and supported.”

Seán O’Donoghue, CEO of The Killybegs Fishermen’s Organisation Ltd, said he had not been contacted regarding The Guardian article and said he was “100% certain” his members were adhering to the law. Efforts to contact the Irish South and West Fish Producers Organisation Ltd for comment were unsuccessful.