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Gibraltar: Non-EU Nationals Get Special Work Permits

Panorama

25 September 2000

This article is reproduced by kind permission of Panorama at http://www.panorama.gi

Nationals of non-European Union countries resident in Gibraltar are to get a special residence status that will provide them with improved work permits. A statement issued by the Gibraltar Government, the Transport and General Workers Union and the Moroccan Workers Association says: "The Government is to issue long term Moroccan and other non-EU residents of Gibraltar with work permits of up to five years duration instead of the current monthly, quarterly or annual permits."


It follows two years of consultations to identify measures that could be taken to improve the status and conditions of long-term Moroccan residents in Gibraltar. There has already been a voluntary repatriation package, access to Government schools free of charge for all Moroccan children and free access to the labour market by resident Moroccan workers.


The 5-year work permits now to be issued "will facilitate the obtaining of visas to travel to third countries and will afford a greater sense of security of residence as well as significantly reducing the bureaucratic procedures to which long term residents of Gibraltar are subjected, said a joint statement. The chief minister Peter Caruana said that at present there is no mechanism for Moroccans to apply for a visa to go to nearby Spain and it was necessary to identify a method for this purpose. Local Moroccan workers have had to travel in the past to the Spanish embassy in London to apply for a visa.


Moroccans first came to work in Gibraltar in the 1960s when the late Franco regime closed the Gibraltar frontier and withdrew its labour force as part of its claim for Gibraltar's sovereignty. However, following Spain's entry into the European Union, Spanish nationals were required to be given preference for job vacancies, which has caused problems for the Moroccans. There are under 2,000 Moroccans in Gibraltar at present.


The new 5-year work permits will also apply to other non-EU residents, such as non-British Indian nationals resident here who make up about half the 500-strong Hindu community.

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