Uncategorised Archives - aditus foundation

The David and Goliath Struggle – Legal Unit, pt 3

by Marine Giorgis, Case Officer, Legal Unit, aditus foundation

An excerpt of Marine’s input to aditus foundation’s Annual Activity Report for 2021. The full Annual Report 2021 may be downloaded here (.pdf). In the coming weeks we’ll be publishing the other team member inputs to the Annual Report.

According to article 1 of the UDHR: “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights”. After a year spent at aditus, I can affirm that this is the guideline of the work carried out on a daily basis by the staff members of the NGO. They carry out a Herculean task in a struggle that resembled the one between David and Goliath. A fight for justice and rule of law that is continuing for me since I was hired as a Case Officer by aditus at the end of my internship!

An Incomparable Year of Change – Legal Unit, pt 2

by Mireille Boffa, Legal Officer, Legal Unit, aditus foundation

An excerpt of Alexis’ input to aditus foundation’s Annual Activity Report for 2021. The full Annual Report 2021 may be downloaded here (.pdf). In the coming weeks we’ll be publishing the other team member inputs to the Annual Report.

I joined aditus foundation in July 2021 as a Junior Legal Officer and my work was mainly focused within the legal unit. I have previous experience within the legal field however the field of asylum and human rights was relatively new to me. Initially my work was focused on simpler procedures including applications for citizenship, residence documents, family reunification and long-term residence applications with the Identity Malta Agency and also follow-up with the relative agencies. I was also doing some research regarding country-of-origin information as well as CJEU, ECtHR and domestic courts case law.

Working in a Challenging Environment – Legal Unit, pt 1

by Alexis Galand, Senior Legal Officer, Legal Unit, aditus foundation

An excerpt of Alexis’ input to aditus foundation’s Annual Activity Report for 2021. The full Annual Report 2021 may be downloaded here (.pdf). In the coming weeks we’ll be publishing the other team member inputs to the Annual Report.

I started working with the aditus foundation in May 2021 as their new Legal Officer. In this position, I was responsible for the organisation of the newly formed legal unit of the NGO, composed of a Junior Legal Officer, a Case Officer and one or more interns, and my role also involved in-depth legal work which required more advanced knowledge of European and Asylum law. This included written and oral submissions for appeals before the International Protection Appeals Tribunal (IPAT) after a rejection on the asylum application and detention and age assessments appeals before the Immigration Appeals Board (IAB). This proved particularly challenging due to a certain lack of expertise, or willingness, of several members of these quasi-judicial bodies appointed by the executive, with limited safeguards guaranteeing their independence and impartiality.

Burning Bikinis – Bikinis, Society, Women

Click to Enlarge – Letter from Archbishop Gonzi to Prime Minister Borg Olivier, 28th June, 1969 – Courtesy of the National Archives, Cabinet Papers, 413/51

Antonella and Carla have been busy carrying out research for Burning Bikinis. This week they looked through relevant Cabinet Papers covering the years between 1964 and 1969 with the helpful assistance of Joseph at the National Archives in Rabat. The documents contained correspondence, memos and newspaper clippings of the furore surrounding the “deplorable state of public morals” (Ref: OPM/413/51 Memo 1348, Courtesy of the National Archives) and the suggestions of the setting up of a special branch in the Police Force to safeguard public morality.

Correspondence was also found between Archbishop Gonzi to Prime Minister Borg Olivier dated 28th June, 1969, as can be seen further up. In response to the letter a Memo was drafted and presented to cabinet, an excerpt can be seen below:

Courtesy of the National Archives, OPM/413/51, Memo No. 1348. Click to Enlarge

Although the text was not adopted in full and references to the bikini were removed from the final Memo, the discourse surrounding what was morally acceptable beachwear and behaviour continued.

Furthermore, a number of interviews have been carried to with women active in various feminist movements in Malta in the 1970s and 1980s. These women were the primary movers in enabling the public to discuss fairer family laws, the possible introduction of divorce and abortion in those decades.

This information will be used for the final docufilm which will be released in the first quarter of next year. We are also eager to hear from anyone who was a young women in the 1960s and therefore please contact us on antonellasgobbo@aditus.org.mt or carlacamilleri@aditus.org.mt.

Watch this space !

For more information visit the Burning Bikinis project page

with the support of

kk-acm-logo2

aditus participates in PROACT: a Europe-wide Workshop to improve responses to trafficking for labour exploitation

Amsterdam, 2nd- 3rd July, 2015

Carla Camilleri, our Assistant Director, participated in a two day European workshop on the Proactive Identification and Support for People Trafficked for Labour Exploitation in Amsterdam. The workshop was organised by FairWork Foundation, Focus on Labour Exploitation (FLEX) and ADPARE and was attended by around 65 expert participants from 24 countries working in NGOs, government departments, trade unions, shelters and research institutes.

The workshop concluded the research phase of the Pro-Act Project which aims to develop effective strategies for pro-active identification and support for people trafficked for labour exploitation. The core strategies that were developed cover 5 main areas:

Access to information, improved detection and remedies;
Access to legal counselling and redress;
Empowering support tailored to the needs of trafficked persons;
Empowering psychological assistance; and
Access to benefits and appropriate employment.

Over the two days, we gave our feedback on the proposed core strategies based on the knowledge and experience gained from the work we did back home. Our assessment and input will then be used by the project partners to strengthen the strategies and pilot them over a six month period in the 3 partner countries: UK, the Netherlands and Romania. We look forward to seeing the results and the experiences gained after the pilot period.

The summary of the Pro-Act research findings and core strategies can be found in more detail here: Working Paper: Pilot Strategies for Pro-Active Identification and Support to Victims of Trafficking for Labour Exploitation.

On Friday afternoon, a supplementary workshop on the Multidisciplinary Cooperation Against Trafficking in Human Being for Labour Exploitation was organised in the light of Project Teamwork which is a joint initiative of the governments of Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Malta and Slovakia in the framework of their EU presidencies 2015 – 2017. During the two hour workshop, the participants were divided into parallel working groups that discussed the main issues relating to the various actors involved in the identification and support for trafficked individuals. The role of the police, prosecutors, trade unions, NGOs and migrant communities in the identification of victims and the problems that often arise were outlined by the various participants. Furthermore, best practices on dealing with trafficking through multidisciplinary cooperation from across Europe were identified and discussed.