Mozambican citizens living in Portugal are denouncing the exploitation and overvaluation of their labor in companies and homes in the country. The cases are diverse, reported in Coimbra, Porto and Funchal. They even go as far as washing pigs on farms.

The young people are lured with promises of good wages, mostly for construction and domestic work. The terms of the contracts are signed in Mozambique, but are changed when they arrive in Portugal.

"When they [the Mozambicans] get here, they [the Portuguese/companies] change the contracts," said a Mozambican citizen interviewed by TVM.

He exemplified this practice with a case that occurred in Coimbra, where the contract provided for working hours of 11 hours a day and in Portugal it was changed to 12 hours a day, but people worked almost 15 hours a day.

"The contract was from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m., and when the young people arrived here the contract was changed from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.. And they went from there to another farm to wash the pigs until 10:30 p.m.," he said.

He said that successful efforts had been made to get these Mozambicans out of that situation. "They are already well and working in Porto [city]".

In addition to overloaded working hours, the wages paid by Portuguese employers are below those stipulated by Portuguese law.

"Many Mozambicans come here with their employers. When they get here, some of their employers pay them the Mozambican salary. Three thousand [meticais], which is 50 euros, and some aren't even paid and aren't legalized. They're in a very funny situation," he revealed.

There are Mozambicans in Portugal in an inhumane situation, even living without their passports and telephones. Most are afraid to report these situations, but there are those who do so at the embassy or in the community.

"The working conditions don't reflect the expectations with which they left Mozambique. We have records of situations that have ended up in court because of labor exploitation. This problem necessarily involves a mechanism for legally hiring our workforce, with the possibility of us monitoring it. Then we will know who is here, where and what they are doing, in which company and under what conditions they are working. We will then be able to organize our consular work and visit our workers in the best possible way," said the Mozambican ambassador.

Joaquim Bule considered the situation to be serious and said that both countries were working to stop the exploitation of the workforce and safeguard their rights.

"The situation is very serious. In the near future, we think that our Ministry of Labor and its Portuguese counterpart will be able to establish a legal mechanism for hiring labor," he said.