News Archives - Page 20 of 34 - aditus foundation

Summertime…

…and we’re being kept busy! For most, summer is generally a quiet period, with offices on shut-down, staff enjoying their holidays and a general sense of lingering in slow motion.

Although our office is in fact closed for two weeks – giving our Operational Team a much-needed break – we’re still busy with several projects and initiatives! This is a general round-up of what we’re busy with at the moment.

Trans policy for prison

Today Government announced the launch of a policy on trans and intersex inmates at Corradino Correctional Facility. We’re very happy with the news, also because we’ve been advocating for this policy for quite some time together with our colleagues at MGRM.

It is regrettable that a large push for the policy needed to come from a human rights Constitutional application filed by a group of trans inmates, with the support of our Pro Bono Unit and of our Litigation Partners Mifsud & Mifsud Advocates.

Projects

Large projects remain underway. Carla is reviewing training modules in a project that will train lawyers on human rights of migrant children (FAIR project), whilst Claire is compiling a national report on Malta’s procedures for identifying asylum-seekers who have been victims of violence (Time for Needs project) and working on reports on Malta’s asylum procedure (AIDA project).

In Project Integrated, Antonella’s analysing piles of data collected from visits to refugee homes and from interviews with migrants, for a report that will comment on the relationship between immigration status and poverty.

Pro Bono Unit

We’re terribly excited with Dylan’s fantastic work on our new client database, giving our Pro Bono Unit the technical backing it needs to be more effective and efficient. Clients keep pouring in, either referred by other organisations – including governmental entities – or spontaneously.

Our ATLAS project should boost legal aid provision services for persons unable to afford a private lawyer, or ineligible for such a service, whilst we have amazing plans in the pipeline for what we think could be great developments in the area of access to justice.

Research & Other

National research for the EU Fundamental Rights Agency remains on-going, now starting to look into national thematic developments throughout 2016 for FRA’s Annual Report, its major publication.

In the coming weeks Neil will be busy coming and going, attending ECRE Board Meetings and participating in ECRE’s Annual General Conference where he’ll be discussing an ECRE policy paper he’s been working on for some time, on safe and legal access to Europe for refugees. He’ll also be attending a TGEU workshop on trans asylum-seekers and refugees, as well as a conference on social innovation in relation to refugee inclusion.

If you’re interested in our work and would like to know more, just get in touch with us with any question, feedback or idea.

Want to support our human rights work? Have you considered a donation, either as a one-off or as a regular contribution?

It’s thanks to this support that we are able to continue advocating for better human rights in Malta, and to provide free legal support to marginalised individuals.

Court Action: “Malta cannot wave the LGBTIQ flag, here and overseas, if it refuses to protect the most vulnerable and marginalised persons in the community.”

On 12 July we filed a human rights application in Court, together with our Litigation Partners Mifsud and Mifsud Advocates, on behalf of 7 trans women currently inmates at Corradino Correctional Facility.

The 7 women are alleging that their experiences in Corradino amount to serious violations of their right to be protected from inhuman and degrading treatment, their right to a private life and their right to be free from discrimination.

Our application stresses the duty of Government to ensure the dignified treatment and protection of all inmates, with specific attention required for particular groups persons such as vulnerable groups.

This particular attention is also required in the context of assessments as to whether treatment amounts to inhuman and degrading under the European Convention on Human Rights and the Constitution of Malta.

“Our application comes after years of battling with Government, demanding guarantees of the physical and psychological safety of our clients and repeatedly offering our support to facilitate this process.

The application is, in its essence, seeking justice for the humiliation suffered by these woman as a direct consequence of Government action.

Malta cannot wave the LGBTIQ flag, here and overseas, if it refuses to protect the most vulnerable and marginalised persons in the community.” (Dr. Neil Falzon, aditus foundation Director)

The case was filed against the Director of Prisons and of the Minister for Home Affairs and National Security.

World Refugee Day 2016

fuocoammare

As refugees continue to attempt the dangerous voyage across the Mediterranean Sea, a discussion on the reasons and consequences of these voyages remains a relevant one.

World Refugee Day 2016 is addressing this discussion by bringing together the Valletta Film Festival, aditus foundation, the Italian Cultural Institute and UNHCR Malta to organize two events on the themes presented in the award-winning film ‘Fuocoammare’.

The film will be screened as part of the Valletta Film Festival (8 June). You’re also invited to a participate in a conversation on the theme of refugees crossing the Mediterranean Sea (7 June), with special guest Dr. Pietro Bartolo, the protagonist of ‘Fuocoammare’.

Check out the events at the World Refugee Day 2016 page.

We look forward to seeing you there!

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New project: Burning Bikinis!

Although we work extensively with anti-discrimination topics, we have only briefly touched on women’s rights and gender roles.

The Burning Bikinis project (1 March 2016 – 28 February 2017) will allow us to explore feminism in Malta from a historical perspective by looking at events that happened in Malta, through talking to those who lived it and adopting an introspective voice by inviting Malta to reflect on today’s role of women in the community.

We feel this is also relevant in the light of recent debates in Malta on the veil, and other cultural influences that impact the way Maltese women see themselves and are seen by society.

The aim of Burning Bikinis is ultimately for the community to reflect on recent history which remains largely unexplored, to take stock of it and to make it their own.

Collective memory will be tapped into to elicit popular perceptions of gender stereotypes, their evolution and their impact on contemporary Maltese society.

The next step would be for the public to use those events in order to analyse the effect this had on gender roles and on female emancipation in Malta.

Finally, the participants, readers, spectators will be made to consider the status quo 55 years later, to ask:what is the shape of Maltese feminism?

Visit the project page here.

With the support of Arts Council Malta, Creative Communities.

New project: judicial training on the rights of asylum-seekers & refugees

Background

With the entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon in December, the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights became a legally binding instrument and consequently legal practitioners in the field of asylum and refugee rights can use its standards to enhance the protection afforded to those seeking international protection.

It is therefore imperative that legal practitioners and particularly members of the judiciary are informed on this instrument and on the scope of its application.

Through the EU Charter and its article 52, the ECHR standards and jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights are directly applicable in interpretation of its articles. The case-law of the Court of the Union is essential in the understanding of the Charter and its rights.

Finally, Member States must also respect their obligations under UN treaties, case-law of UN treaty bodies and international refugee law, as underlined by many legislative instruments under the Common European Asylum System (CEAS).

The EU is witnessing an increase in the number and features of criminal acts against third-country nationals.

Crimes linked to racism and xenophobia have recently taken on different forms and expressions, becoming increasingly part of a more general trend among political and social groups: the increase in racism and xenophobia have many social explanations but also have implications on the work of judges who need to be better informed on the European instruments to deal with them.

The Project (1 April 2016 – 31 March 2018) aims to enhance the drive towards a common legal and judicial culture in EU and to strengthen law enforcement in the area of Fundamental Rights through the training of members of the judiciary and judicial staff on the application of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights and the Council Framework Decision 2008/913/JHA (CFD).

Project Results

Increased awareness among law practitioners and in the wider context of the legal community of the involved member states on the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights
A better understanding of the significance of implementing and respecting the Rights enshrined in the EU Charter and the procedures outlined in the CFD
An improved knowledge on how the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights can better be fitted and implemented with the existing national Legislative Framework in the topic areas of this project
An In depth understanding of the situation on the ground of protecting refugee rights and obstacles thereof
A further developed cooperation and networking between all stakeholders involved in order to set up a common European judicial environment in the field of applying the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights in connection with asylum, racism and xenophobia.
A practical, ready-to-use interactive training material that can be applied throughout MSs and can be updated with the development of EU legislation so as to remain permanently useful.
Increased cooperation both on an EU level, but also on an MS level between NGOs’ and members of the judiciary

Project Partners

International Commission of Jurists – European Institutions, Greek Council for Refugees (Lead Partner), aditus foundation, REFUGEES, Hungarian Helsinki Committee, Legal Clinic for Refugees and Immigrants, European Council on Refugees and Exiles.

Visit the Project page here.

Co-funded by the Rights, Equality and Citizenship (REC) Programme of the European Union.