By Yi Whan-woo
Malta has been deporting North Korea’s “slave workers,” according to diplomatic sources, Thursday.
Malta is the first European Union (EU) member to deport North Korean laborers in line with international calls to protect their human rights and prevent the North from pocketing their wages and diverting them for nuclear weapons development.
The Maltese government refused to extend visas for some 20 manual laborers from Pyongyang when their work permits expired.
Most of them returned home after working at construction sites and clothing-manufacturing factories, the sources said.
A senior executive at Rite Mix, a construction firm in Malta, said it had 15 North Korean employees, but they stopped working in late May.
“I heard some of the North Koreans sought to land jobs at other construction companies after our management did not renew their contracts,” the executive said. “They now plan to go back to Pyongyang after having difficulties in extending their work permits.”
Leisure Clothing Malta, a clothing manufacturer, said several North Koreans used to do needlework at its plant but do not work there anymore.
Some sources said many North Korean employees were forced to work overtime while turning in most of their wages to supervisors sent from the Kim Jong-un regime.
“It seemed that the Maltese government did not pay much attention to such exploitation of North Koreans until media outlets in Malta began to cover related stories and calls began to rise to take responsible measures,” a South Korean official said on condition of anonymity.
“The Maltese government never made it explicit that it was deporting North Koreans but it is believed to be taking requests from South Korea and human rights groups into account in its measures.”
An Chan-il, head of the World Institute for North Korea Studies in Seoul, speculated that other European countries hiring North Koreans are expected to take similar steps as Malta.
“There will be a domino effect in the region, given that Malta is one of the smallest nations in the EU but has taken an exemplary step for bigger neighbors to follow,” he said. “The EU is likely to make sure its members are not being used as sources funding North Korea’s weapons development,” An said.
In Europe, Poland has been hiring employees from Pyongyang for years although it reportedly stopped this year.
Malta is seen as one of the Pyongyang-friendly nations in Europe. They established diplomatic relations in 1971.
Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se will visit Malta during his trip to Italy today and tomorrow.
Yun will the first South Korean foreign minister to travel to Malta.
He is expected to discuss North Korea’s nuclear and missile threats with his counterparts, Paolo Gentiloni of Italy and George William Vella of Malta, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
According to media reports, a North Korean construction worker is thought to be living in South Korea after escaping from work in Malta last year; as are two people who worked in a restaurant there.
The reports said one of the two was a middle-aged male and the other was a woman in her 20s.
The Ministry of Unification said it “cannot confirm their current status even if they have successfully defected to South Korea.”
If confirmed, it will become the first case of defection among North Koreans from Europe.
The restaurant in Malta, called “The Garden,” was one of the 130 eateries that North Korea operates in 12 countries to earn foreign currency.
“The Garden” opened in early 2015 but closed within six months, according to the sources.
Several cases of defections among North Korean restaurants employees were reported in China. It is speculated that they were under pressure to earn money amid a decreasing number of customers following the U.N. Security Council’s sanctions imposed in March.