Director

Our work at EU level supported by Government

Today we joined a long list of other NGOs to receive financial support from Minister Helena Dalli, Minister for Social Dialouge, Consumer Affairs and Civil Liberties (MSDC), for our work at the EU level.

Through the Civil Society Fund the Ministry enables civil society organisations to be active players in our respective sectors, thereby bridging the gap between EU-level policy-making and Maltese grassroots realities.

“The objectives of the Civil Society Fund (CSF) are the following:

to assist CSOs to keep abreast with the developments occurring at an EU level;
to enable CSOs to better educate their members on EU matters related to their respective fields of competence; and
to enable CSOs to participate effectively in the decision-making process at a European level.”

We’ve been benefitting from the CSF for a number of years, particularly since we are keen to bring Malta’s migration/asylum realities on the EU agenda, and because we rely heavily on our networks to support our national advocacy, public awareness and litigation activities.

Specifically, the CSF contributes to our annual memberships with the Platform for International Cooperation on Undocumented Migrants (PICUM) and the European Council on Refugees and Exiles (ECRE). Through these memberships we receive regular news updates on EU legal and policy initiatives, and attend several training seminars and workshops that are aimed at influencing national and regional laws and policies.

The CSF contribution also enables our Director’s participation at ECRE’s Annual General Conferences, offering excellent networking and learning opportunities.

Importantly, the CSF also supports Neil’s participation in the meetings of the ECRE Board, where he represents ECRE’s member organisations based in the Mediterranean region.

“We’re extremely fortunate that the Ministry supports these kind of civil society activities.

This assistance makes the sector stronger and more effective, without impinging on our independence.”

Minister Helena Dalli

Worlds apart on a tiny island – our Director’s Talking Point on The Times

Available here: http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20161102/opinion/worlds-apart-on-a-tiny-island.629741

Some weeks ago, Mina Tolu, a young Maltese trans activist, corrected actress-activist Emma Watson when the latter referred to the former as “she” instead of the preferred “they”. Also some weeks ago, Fathi Elhadi Eldeeb was treated for serious injuries following what he described as a beating by six bouncers that left him unconscious.

The distance between these two personal experiences is staggeringly vast, and should be yet another eye-opener on Malta’s understanding and exploitation of human rights.

Enter Mina, whose affirmation of their non-binary gender identity is representative of the giant leaps forward made in Malta in finally recognising the equal human dignity of lesbian, gay, trans and intersex persons.

Understandably confusing to many, pronoun choice is of course not a mere linguistic flair but a direct rejection of the very idea that all in nature is either male or female. In challenging such a deeply entrenched understanding of the world, it almost pokes fun at the national panic we witnessed at the crumbling of other, possibly far more constructed notions, such as marriage and the family.

The point is that in just a couple of years, Malta has come an extremely long way. Non-discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression is protected by our Constitution, and hate crime legislation includes the same grounds in its protection.

Civil unions extend to couples – whether heterosexual or homosexual – the full package of rights and obligations found in marriage, and changing one’s gender no longer requires forced sterilisation but may be effected with a mere notarial declaration.

Across the government, ministries are adopting technical policies that seek to ensure the implementation of these legal norms within their areas of responsibility such as schools, the health sector and prisons.

Pronoun choice is of course not a mere linguistic flair but a direct rejection of the very idea that all in nature is either male or female. Just earlier this week, Parliament started discussing Bills to depathologise LGBTIQ+ identities, thereby taking a proud stand against international criteria, and to criminalise conversion practices. Exit Mina.

Enter Fathi, whose story is the most distant point on the human rights spectrum to Mina’s. His is essentially an experience of isolation. Or rather, he suffers from the intentional and strategic social exclusion perpetuated on a daily basis at far too many political and social levels in Malta.

The point is that years have passed since Malta saw the first refugees arriving by boat, and there is still no political or national effort to truly engage with them.

Malta’s detention reform, coming after years of advocacy, international criticism and judicial condemnations, remains ineffective in practice. Although the reform removed the automatic detention of migrants and asylum seekers in an irregular situation, detention remains the first and only option for the police.

Despite the reform introducing extremely strict grounds for detaining asylum seekers, in line with Malta’s European Union obligations, they are being detained even where no grounds exist and when their detention proves to be unnecessary.

Refugees fleeing war and human rights violations – Iranians, Iraqis, Libyans, Syrians – are prosecuted and imprisoned because their only way of reaching safety is by using false passports.

It is worth remembering that these prosecutions and prison sentences are in flagrant breach of Malta’s international legal obligations.

Refugee integration is almost a national taboo. Apart from a vague document published by the Civil Liberties Ministry in 2015, Malta stubbornly refuses to talk about – let alone act on – pressing integration issues.

Public entities that deal with migrants and refugees remain desperately understaffed and under-resourced, some displaying attitudes that include dismissal, scorn or outright racism.

The country’s approach to refugees remains captured by the desolate units at Ħal Far, miserable homes to those refugees who were lucky or brave enough to flee their homes. Exit Fathi.

It is clear that no side of Parliament is keen on showing any form of political leadership in the area of migration, excluding of course that aspect of migration that results in the purchase of Maltese citizenship.

The kind of leadership displayed in relation to the LGBTIQ+ community is brave and transformative, insofar as it is adamant on bringing about cultural changes in support of fundamental human rights.

Yet it is also an opportunistic and selective leadership that is just as adamant on ignoring Fathi and all the other inconvenient minority groups in Malta.

aditus at a training on conflict resolution from a gender perspective

14731115_10211166100098291_8041586162302006293_n From 23th to 27^th October 2016, the Toledo International Centre for Peace (CITpax) and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) with the support of the Spanish Ministry of Defence and Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, organised the Training workshop Mediation and conflict resolution from a gender perceptive, addressed to women from civil society with a capacity to reach out to decision-makers.

Antonella, our Programmes Officer, flew to Spain, to Toledo, a city that has been known as a city of tolerance or the City of Three Cultures, with the coexistence of Jews, Muslims and Christians.

The seminar promoted women’s capacities in mediation and conflict resolution, it brought together and involved the participation of 12 women from the following countries: Spain, Tunisia, France, Greece, Egypt, Italy, Jordan, Libya, Egypt, Israel, Lebanon, and Bosnia Herzegovina.

Besides the overall objective of familiarising women with the techniques and main tools in the field of mediation, the course aimed at sensitising the trainees to the need of active participation in conflict management, both open and latent; strengthen the processes of social dialogues and the civil participation of women.

In our discussions, we shared experiences and good practices, we raised critical points and we explored how the cultural diversity and expansion of mediation practice and the identifying cultural sensitivity of gender stereotype, are focusing the mediation process on the gender power.

The theoretical sessions, the group exercises and the games held during the seminar, demonstrated there is a sense in which human actions are gendered, especially in mediation practice. The trainers suggested ways and means gender difference can be deconstructed in the social space and bring strength to men and women in times of weakness.

The four-day workshop was facilitated by Fadhila Mammar, Adviser of CITpax and Cynthia Petrigh, international expert in humanitarian negotiation and dissemination of humanitarian norms, with more than 20 years’ experience of intervention in conflict and post-conflict situations.

Many issues are still on the table: Where, why and to what extent does feminism interact with security state, how feminist theories can excavate the deep connections between the indigenous dispossession and heteropatriarchy, and the patriarchal structure of all religious authority. The follow up of the training will be the creation of a network of women across borders.

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Dignified housing opportunities is a national priority – Press Statement by Coalition of Civil Society Organisations

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The sharp increases in rent prices over recent years are having a serious impact on the ability of vulnerable persons, including families, to secure dignified accommodation. Although possibly a sign that Malta is becoming more prosperous, several Maltese and foreign individuals are simply unable to cope. Whilst we welcome Malta’s economic growth, we also urge the authorities to engage in a process that will ensure growth that is truly nation-wide, and based on principles of social justice and respect for human dignity. Malta needs to ensure that all persons have access to affordable accommodation.

As organisations supporting many of Malta’s marginalised communities, we are witnessing the consequences of sharp and often unpredictable increases in rent prices, such as: homelessness, families regularly moving from one locality to another, substandard quality of accommodation, over-crowding, replacement of studies with employment and over-reliance on temporary shelters. These are exacerbated by the long waiting lists, or ineligibility for social housing.

The people we are assisting include survivors of domestic violence, the elderly, persons with disabilities, migrants and refugees, women trapped in prostitution, youth, persons with mental health problems, and newly-separated or divorced persons. In our experience, persons falling into multiple categories, such as women with disabilities or elderly refugees, are more acutely affected. We are also aware that our concerns are shared by many other persons who, whilst not falling into any of the above categories, are earning low or even average income.

In response to this disquieting social development, we are joining forces to raise the issue on the national political agenda. Our Coalition is based on a shared vision where economic growth is not equated with deprivation and marginalisation, but instead leads to social and human prosperity for all.

We are therefore urging the authorities to give the matter due and urgent consideration, not only in the interests of the persons directly affected by these situations but also for the sake of securing social cohesion and dignified living conditions for all persons.

The Coalition is composed of:

aditus foundation, Alleanza Kontra l-Faqar, Anti Poverty Forum Malta, Caritas Malta, Foundation for Shelter and Support to Migrants, Integra Foundation, Jesuit Refugee Service Malta, Malta Emigrants’ Commission, MGRM, Dr. Marceline Naudi, , Organisation for Friendship in Diversity, The Platform of Human Rights Organisations in Malta (PHROM), Richmond Foundation, Spark 15, St. Jeanne Antide Foundation, Women’s Rights Foundation

Update on our main access to justice project

The ATLAS (Access to Legal Assistance) project (1 May 2016 – 30 April 2017) is moving forward!

Alessia, our new Project Officer, has finally moved to Malta and, together with Carla, they have identified relevant stakeholders and are now conducting interviews with service providers.

We have already met the General Legal Aid Unit and the Third Country Nationals Unit, gathering information about the actual availability of legal assistance in Malta for asylum, civil and criminal proceedings.

We have also spoken to pro bono lawyers and NGOs providing free legal aid, for the purpose of gauging access to legal assistance and identifying the effective need for pro bono systems within a corporate social responsibility.

We will conduct several more stakeholder interviews to understand how service-users access legal aid services, and to note their experiences with the system.

Interviews will contribute to our research, that will focus on international and EU obligations in relation to provision of legal assistance, on current Maltese legislation and legal aid systems, as well as on recent proposals to the justice reform initiative in order to guarantee access to free legal assistance.

We are constantly following new legal developments so to have a comprehensive knowledge of the right of access to a lawyer.

Also, as part of the capacity-building aim of the ATLAS project, we are organising a national workshop. We have invited national and international speakers and organisations for them to cast light on Malta’s obligations to provide legal aid as a fundamental human right of all people who are accused or suspected of crimes, who face any period of imprisonment, are involved in serious or complex cases, or who do not have the capacity to defend the case themselves.

Our aim is to define the possibilities to create and maintain an efficient legal aid system in Malta.

If you have any views on legal aid in Malta, or want further information on this project, get in touch with Alessia Cicatiello at alessiacicatiello@aditus.org.mt.

This project is funded through the Voluntary Organisations Project Scheme managed by the Ministry for Social Dialogue, Consumer Affairs and Civil Liberties.

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