FLASH
Shkruar nga Pamfleti
The demand for foreign workers in our country, which is becoming even greater year after year, is also highlighting the issues related to safety and the legislation that should protect the lives and health of these workers.
The case in Durrës, where a young man from Bangladesh lost his life in a boat manufacturing factory as a result of a fire, has raised concerns about how such cases are handled, at least regarding the return of the body to the deceased's homeland. Albanian legislation, it seems, does not clearly provide for this type of procedure and who should carry it out.
"In any case, we refer to the law: the Law on Foreigners, the Labor Code and technical insurance. The Albanian law on foreigners provides that, in the event of an accident, the company must take care of the employee, but in the event of death, repatriation to the country of origin is not foreseen. However, we are part of the Convention on Human Rights and it provides that it is precisely the business that must repatriate the employee to the country of origin, since the law on foreigners in Albania does not clearly express this legal responsibility. Every business, at the moment it recruits an employee, the only thing it actually accepts in the documentation is health care in the event of an accident, accommodation and food, but in no case is repatriation foreseen ," says Suzana Aga, recruitment expert, Durrës, for A2 CNN.
In fact, due to the very high number of applications, according to the expert on the recruitment of foreign workers, the relevant state offices are not even able to verify on the ground the conditions under which these employees are treated or maintained.
"Companies are required by law to respect, first of all, the space of 20 square meters per employee. They must have normal living conditions in terms of kitchen, toilets and others. What is happening? Today there is a lot of load. There are three main cities that have the largest influx: Tirana, Durrës and Vlora. In all three of these cities, state offices are short of staff. So, the operators who submit the documentation to the immigration offices are themselves facing the lack of personnel. Is it possible that in a city like Durrës, where there are 2000 applications for employment alone, everything is followed by only four operators? I think not ," says Aga.
It is important that inspectorates carry out verifications before such events take people's lives, as afterwards, the measures no longer have the necessary value.
Lini një Përgjigje