Migrant worker families “at risk of poverty”

On Monday, we reported on a proposed amendment to the directive on minimum income for migrant workers who want to bring family members to the Faroes.

According to the amendment, a non-Danish worker must have a minimum gross monthly income of DKK 27,504 to bring a young child to the Faroes.

This minimum amount increases for each additional family member brought to the country.

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These changes have not gone down well with Sonja Jógvansdóttir, the chairwoman of Samtak, which is an umbrella body for trade unions.

“Not many migrant workers earn this much, so these new restrictions appear to serve one purpose only: to prevent family reunification for migrant workers,” she says.

And in a way, this is correct, according to integration minister Bjarni Kárason Petersen, who initiated the amendment.

“Migrant workers come here primarily for working, and they are not entitled to the same welfare services as permanent residents are,” he says.

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“This is something we need to keep in mind when migrant workers choose to come here to work and bring their families with them. We need these rules to protect them from ending up in poverty.”

The minister is keen to point out that migrant workers are welcome in the Faroes, but if they want to bring their families, they should know that they need to be able to provide for them.

Responding to Jógvansdóttir’s comment about the purpose of the new rules, he says:

“This is a misunderstanding of what we’re doing. The limits we have set are based on the basic wage of an unskilled worker plus the various welfare payments that permanent residents are entitled to.”

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Figures from the Immigration Office reveal that that many migrant worker families are struggling financially.

“This is, in many cases, a direct result of the lack of mandatory minimum income limits for migrant workers, and that’s why we now want to introduce these limits.”

The minister is aware that the new limits might discourage some foreign nationals from coming to the Faroes to work because they might not be able to bring their family with them.

 >> SEE ALSO Unemployment hits all-time low

“Migrant workers are crucial in times of low unemployment. But it is equally crucial that these workers know what they come here for. When they are issued a work permit, it means they come here to work. When their work permit expires, it is only fair to assume that they return to where they came from,” he says.

“The alternative is that the accompanying families end up as a burden on our welfare system, which is financed by taxpayers in the Faroe Islands.”

Read the Faroese versions of this article here and here.

More Faroese News in English.