MP takes up cudgels for RP fishers in UK

By Jerome Aning
Philippine Daily Inquirer
Posted date: June 11, 2009

MANILA, Philippines—A Scottish lawmaker is taking up the cudgels for some 500 Filipino fishermen facing retrenchment and deportation in the United Kingdom after the British government ruled that only fishermen from European Union member states may be employed in the United Kingdom’s internal fishing fleets.

British Member of Parliament Angus MacNeil, echoing concerns by his fishing industry constituents in Scotland’s West Coast, said the implementation of the new regulation would be “catastrophic” since more than two thirds of the fishing boats there are manned by Filipinos.

“This issue is going to seriously affect fishing boat owners in the Western Isles, as there are many hard-working fishermen from the Philippines employed on boats in the islands. Fishermen’s leaders inform me that the fishermen are highly skilled and have completed all the necessary training courses,” MacNeil said in a statement quoted by the European fishery sector website www.fishnewseu.com.

It was reported that MacNeil was seeking a meeting with officials responsible for borders and immigration to propose that the Filipino fishermen be given temporary work permits.

“We see many nurses from non-EU countries working in the UK, with many of them on temporary work permits; I cannot understand why the same cannot be done for the fishermen,” MacNeil added.

The Scottish Fishermen’s Federation is also working to appeal the Borders Agency regulation.

The UK Borders Agency had earlier ruled that all vessels working within a 12-mile limit of the British coast cannot employ non-EU nationals without valid work visas. The Filipinos did not have valid visas and therefore were working illegally in UK’s territorial waters.