Director

Women’s absence from highest democratic institutions is extremely worrying

The presence of women in Malta’s highest democratic institutions is alarmingly low: only 16% of electoral candidates in 2013 were women, one female Cabinet Minister out of 14, nine female Members of Parliament, and six female judges out of 23. The fact that Malta’s President is a woman is nothing more than a convenient statistic for some, but no real consolation for most. These figures are in sharp contrast to those showing female graduates outnumbering male ones, the proportion of female electoral candidates who get elected is far higher that it is for male colleagues, and girls’ overall exam performance exceeds that of boys.

aditus foundation has just released Burning Bikinis, a documentary exploring Malta’s feminist movement from the 1960’s till the present day. The film engages with leading figures of this movement, honouring their invaluable contribution to human rights in Malta. It draws the path from the legal and political invisibility of women to 2017, when the nation is still struggling to attribute to a woman’s mind and body the equal value, respect and freedom to those of a man.

Burning Bikinis invites Malta to consider those pressing issues that remain in the way of true equality between the sexes, and to mobilise itself against the forces that accept, encourage or perpetuate inequality.

aditus foundation actively promotes a society where all its members are able to access and enjoy their fundamental human rights freely and with dignity. For International Women’s Day, therefore, we are urging the political parties that will contest the next general elections to set for themselves the goal of increasing their number of female candidates. To this end, we recommend them to introduce quotas to ensure women candidates contesting general and Local Council elections, with the longer-term view of such quotas being incorporated in Malta’s electoral legislation.

Burning Bikinis takes a look at Malta’s feminist movement and praises it for its achievements, bravery and commitment. Today, we yearn for that spirit to be awakened in order for it to tackle contemporary challenges.

Burning Bikinis is a film co-produced by aditus foundation and Subway Lab, with the support of Arts Council Malta, the US Embassy in Malta and the German Embassy in Malta. It was directed by Emmanuel Tut-Rah Farah and Alessandro Tesei.

News regarding future public screenings will be made available through our website and social media pages.

The trailer can be viewed here: http://aditus.org.mt/Publications/burningbikinistrailer.mp4

CONFERENCE REGISTRATION: “Protecting Stateless Persons from Arbitrary Detention”

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On 4-5 May 2017, the European Network on Statelessness will hold a major conference in Budapest to launch a new comparative report as well as to provide a platform for concerted region-wide advocacy aimed at protecting stateless persons from arbitrary detention.

The conference is intended to facilitate the sharing of information among stakeholders from across Europe – including lawyers, NGOs and academics as well as representatives from governments, inter-governmental-organisations, ombudspersons/monitoring bodies and other stakeholders mandated to work on issues related to immigration detention.

aditus foundation is a member of the European Network on Statelessness, having also researched and drafted the report on the risk of arbitrary detention for stateless persons in Malta. Our Director will be attending the conference, moderating one of the workshops.

You can find out more about the event and register online here. Registration deadline is 15 March.

New national report on asylum in Malta

Today the European Council on Refugees and Exiles (ECRE) published the country report covering all aspects of asylum in Malta. Published within the Asylum Information Database project (AIDA), the country report provides valuable information on legal and policy issues, as well as an insight into realities on the ground.

AIDA is a database containing information on asylum procedures, reception conditions, detention and content of international protection across 20 countries.

As with all country reports, the Malta report is the most comprehensive document on asylum in Malta, an extremely useful reference tool for law- and policy-makers, judiciary, NGOs, academics, etc.

The Malta report was prepared by aditus foundation and JRS Malta.

We hope you’ll find this report useful in your work, and thank all entities that provided information for our research.

NGOs urge government to work together to avoid migrant hopelessness: Joint NGO Press Release on the death of Frederick Ofusu

We are saddened beyond words by the tragic news of the death of Frederick Ofusu, who took his life on a building site in Qawra just days ago. His death is a stark reminder, if any were needed, of just how devastating the impact of living in a state of constant uncertainty is for people.

Frederick is by no means the first casualty of the hopelessness and despair induced by government decisions that significantly reduce the rights of migrants and leave people in a state of limbo for years on end with no way out. The recent decision to round up migrants who have lived in Malta for years, coupled with the revocation of THPN status created a climate of fear and intimidation among migrants, especially rejected asylum-seekers.

Those suffering from mental health problems are even more likely to be negatively affected by the heightened uncertainty and the state of induced powerlessness. The situation of rejected asylum-seekers, who have very limited rights and are extremely vulnerable to exploitation and abuse, remains one of extreme concern.

We therefore urge the government to create clear legal pathways to regularisation for rejected asylum-seekers who have not been returned in spite of the fact that they cooperated with legitimate attempts to deport them.

We welcome any measure that addresses these concerns and remain ready and available to discuss such matters with the Ministry.

Statement of:

aditus foundation, the Critical Institute, Foundation for Shelter and Support to Migrants, Integra Foundation, International Association for Refugees, Jesuit Refugee Service (Malta), Malta Emigrants’ Commission, Migrant Women Association Malta, Migrants’ Network for Equality, Organisation for Friendship in Diversity, Peace and Good Foundation, People for Change Foundation, Solidarity with Migrants Network, SOS Malta, Spark 15.

The release of 9 detained Malians is a human rights victory!

We welcome the announcement that the nine Malian men detained for three months will finally be released.

The Minister for Home Affairs and National Security confirmed that difficulties obtaining documentation from Mali was impeding the men’s deportation, possibly for an indefinite period. Human rights, EU and Maltese law only allow States to detain migrants prior to their removal when the removal is actually being pursued with due diligence. The nine men’s on-going detention was therefore not in compliance with applicable norms, and that is we demanded their immediate release.

We look forward to further engagement with the Ministry for Home Affairs and National Security to explore ways of ensuring a national migration framework that truly upholds human rights principles.

The undersigned NGOs would like to express their sincere thanks to all supporters of this gruelling campaign, especially the media organisations that joined forces for this initiative.

Press Release of:

aditus foundation, African Media Association, The Critical Institute, Integra Foundation, International Association for Refugees, JRS Malta, KOPIN, Malta Emigrants’ Commission, Migrant Women Association Malta, Migrant Network for Equality, Moviment Graffitti, Organisation for Friendship in Diversity, People for Change Foundation, Solidarity with Migrants group, SOS Malta, Spark15.