With Integra Foundation and The Critical Institute we’ve sent the below letter to the Prime Minister, pretty much in the same spirit as our harsh press statement on governance problems in Malta, published some months ago.
We’ll keep our readers posted on updates, if any.
This has got to stop.
Recently, we’ve been requested by the Immigration Law Practitioners’ Association* (ILPA) to provide specific information about various elements of Malta’s asylum system.
*ILPA is a UK-based organisation aiming to promote and improve the advising and representation of immigrants, to provide information on domestic and European immigration, asylum and nationality law and finally to secure a non-racist, non-sexist, just and equitable system of immigration refugee and nationality law practice.
In 2017, ILPA started a pilot project aiming at sending volunteer experienced UK immigration and asylum lawyers to Greece to support refugees and Greek lawyers on-site. The lawyers sent to Greece are focusing on the initial stages of cases: preparing statements, advising on evidence and applications for family reunion.
So as to ensure a more effective implementation, ILPA asked several lawyers and/or organisations in Europe to provide detailed information about the specificities of national asylum systems, to help the lawyers in Greece with their work. This information is particularly useful for those asylum-seekers who might be relocated to Malta, and for those who – having family members present in Malta – might applying for family reunification under the Dublin III Regulation.
Acting in solidarity with our British and Greek colleagues, we are very committed to this project and have been developing several thematic Fact Sheets that cover essential elements of Malta’s asylum process.
We started developing #aditusFactSheets in our ATLAS project, since we understand that the starting point to securing human rights is knowledge of their existence and of the steps needed to enjoy them.
Topics covered include the asylum procedure, rights of beneficiaries of international protection, long-term residence status, Malta’s court system (civil and criminal), equality bodies, etc.
Our Know your rights! initiative is now in full swing, and we’ve churned out a number of useful, accessible and user-friendly documents that are not limited to asylum or migration.
All our #aditusFactSheets are publicly available on the Know your rights! page.
Please go ahead and download them…if you’d like to suggest further topics, don’t hesitate to get in touch with us!
Photo from independent.co.uk
We would like to commend the Government of Malta’s stand against the far right group Defend Europe in refusing to allow the C-Star to enter Malta.
Under the deceptive premise of ‘saving lives’, the mission of the vessel C-Star claims to ‘defend Europe’ by disrupting humanitarian vessels and by returning refugees to the coast of Libya.
The scope and actions of Defend Europe must not be underestimated, their political ideology is dangerous and extreme.
The stance adopted by the Government of Malta sends out a clear message against the politics of hate and extremism.
aditus foundation, Graffiti, Integra Foundation, Jesuit Refugee Service (Malta), Kopin, The Critical Institute.
We are appalled at the way Italy and Malta treated the migrants and crew aboard the vessel Golfo Azzurro. Relying on restrictive and questionable interpretations of legal obligations in order to deny disembarkation created an inhumane situation, achieving absolutely nothing but more human suffering and pain.
It is unacceptable for States to behave in this manner, toying with the lives and security of people as they attempt to resolve their diplomatic disagreements.
Without access to complete information regarding the precise rescue location and procedures, we are not in a position to establish with certainty whether the recused migrants ought to have been disembarked in Italy or in Malta. However, we can say with certainty that under international human rights law and international maritime law disembarkation in Libya was an absolute non-starter.
This would have exposed the rescued migrants to risks of loss of life or of serious human rights violations, an unacceptable resolution to the impasse.
It is now opportune to remind Malta of its several calls for solidarity in dealing with refugee flows. Malta was in the prime position to show solidarity with Italy, a State that has solely hosted hundreds of thousands of refugees and migrants. Malta could also have extended its solidarity to the three migrants who were in need of safety and, as days passed by, humanitarian assistance.
Malta could have done the right thing. Instead it chose to abandon the migrants and crew to their fates out at sea, potentially for days.
Solidarity is not a one-way street. It requires long-term commitment to support whoever is in need, and whenever the need arises. We strongly urge Malta to revisit its understanding of the principle, and to distance itself from a migration policy based on self-interest and disregard for human life.
From 3rd to 16th July 2017, Teatro Stabile di Torino and Banca San Paolo with the support of the Regione Piemonte organised the Training Awareness Campus in Moncalieri, Turin, Italy, addressed to actors, cultural mediators, animators, dancers, social workers, doctors, psychologists, physiotherapists, trainers, gymnasts, singers and students, aimed at the consolidation of a group for conducting theatrical practices for the care of the person and in particular for the migrants.
Being also a Drama Trainer and Artistic Project Manager of programmes exploring themes related to vulnerable, marginalised and displaced people, I flew to Italy, to Turin and was one of the 50 participants.
The training provided a safe space in which everyone, young people up to the age of 85 years old, could express themselves freely and explore their creativity. The applied learning method was based on the constant and rigorous exercise of awareness and attention through the practice of physical, vocal and narrative action and on the practice of articulated instruments for building a way of reflecting on space and relationships with the others. The training focused on acting, interactive theatre, devising to bear witness, raise awareness, and build alliances and a cultural resistance movement at the core of a free and critical society.
During the training, the practical work was supplemented by several public talks of pedagogy, philosophy, history, and literature held by professors and doctors coming from the University of Milan, Bologna and Turin. Also in the evening, the social life consisted of cultural events organised by local organisations of refugees, volunteering associations for people with disability and migrant women groups.
Fonderie Limone, Moncalieri, Turin, Italy. Ph credit: Giulietta Vacis
The training was very intense, from 9.00 in the morning till 8.00 in the evening. Living for 2 weeks with a very diverse group of people, sharing very personal emotions and stories helped us to develop an environment of inclusivity and integration in which every person is made to understand that she or he has a contribution to offer.
The trainers’ team worked hardly to facilitate and encourage our social interaction, collaboration, positive communication, mutual support and listening through very specific exercises and social games. I think that producing state of art and thought-provoking theatre and media products in order to strengthen collaboration, self-awareness, creativity and imagination is extremely important for working in our community and advocating good governance, accountability, equality, integrity and justice.
Fonderie Limone, Moncalieri, Turin, Italy. Ph credit: Giulietta Vacis
Artistic expression is a strategy to build a sense of community, of unity, of shared values, an alternative world view, and a commitment to making the struggle for social justice an integrated part of our lives.
The cultural resistance campus in Italy aimed to raise awareness and critical sense that is able to analysis of the reality around us and challenge all forms of oppression.
Fonderie Limone, Moncalieri, Turin, Italy. Ph credit: Giulietta Vacis
Antonella Sgobbo, Programmes Officer