Director

NGO Press Statement: Malta must stop illegally pushing back people to Libya!

We are extremely concerned at yet another allegation that Malta illegally pushed back to Libya a group of 83 persons. According to the reports, the people were in distress at sea in Malta’s Search and Rescue Zone. The reports further allege that, instead of coordinating their rescue, Malta somehow permitted the Libyan authorities to enter Malta’s zone of rescue responsibility and to return the people to Libya.

Libya is not a safe country. It remains unsafe due to widespread and on-going conflict. This is aggravated by the fact that it does not yet have a Government able to provide security and stability to the entire country and to all people living in it.

Open Letter to Maltese MEPs on the vote for EU Migration and Asylum Pact

Together with our friends at JRS Malta, we sent an open letter to Maltese MEPs on the vote for the EU Migration and Asylum Pact.

What is the Pact? Why are human rights organisations all over the EU lamenting its adoption as the end of asylum in Europe? Read more here.

The EU Must Provide Future-Proof Solutions for People Displaced from Ukraine

We added our signature to an important European civil society statement signed by 131 organisations, calling on the EU to act now to ensure people who have fled Ukraine have options to stay in the EU once temporary protection ends.

Though temporary protection is set to end in 2025, the EU has not yet offered any harmonised proposals for the longer-term regularised stay for people displaced from Ukraine. This is creating uncertainty for some 4.3 million current temporary protection holders.

The statement under the EU to provide future-proof solutions for people displaced from Ukraine.

Joint NGO Statement: Survivors of traumatic incidents at sea need support, not detention!

aditus foundation and Jesuit Refugee Service (Malta) are extremely saddened by the recent news of yet another tragedy at sea that resulted in several people dying. We are further upset by Malta’s treatment of the survivors. According to news sites that we are unable to confirm, 21 persons were taken to Malta’s main detention centre.

We underline that anyone going through such a horrific experience requires immediate psychological support. The survivors came within inches of death whilst at the same time witnessing their friends and possibly loved ones drowning around them. No words can possibly describe the mental state they must be in.

We therefore strongly urge Malta to offer them all the psychological support they require, particularly to the most vulnerable. This support cannot be provided in detention, but requires a safe and caring space. This is an opportunity for Malta to do what is right.

As always, we stand ready to provide our own services as soon as we are able to.

(AFM photo of the boat while out at sea: Jonathan Borg, from Times of Malta)

Maltese NGOs urge Malta to join ICJ case against Israel

On the 100th day of the bombing of Gaza, we’ve written to the Maltese Foreign Affairs Ministry. Our letter urges Malta to join the ICJ case against Israel.