Carla Camilleri, Assistant Director
Malta starting receiving significant numbers of refugees in the mid-90’s. However, it was not until 2001 and 2002 that large numbers started arriving by boat from North Africa, Libya in particular. Most of those arriving in Malta through this route were from Sub-Saharan Africa, however in recent years Syrians and Libyans make up the largest groups in terms of arrivals.
Continue ReadingOn behalf of aditus foundation, Integra Foundation and JRS Malta, I would like to share with you our 3 new publications on refugee integration.
Published in the context of Project Integrated, with the support of UNHCR Malta, the 3 Policy Papers are intended to guide our advocacy with Government on key aspects of refugee integration. In the coming months we will be engaging in dialogue sessions with Ministries and other entities so as to present our views and discuss ways forward.
The Policy Papers, published as an on-going series of policy input, are as follows (click on the names to download in .pdf):
Do not hesitate to contact us should you require further information.
It is a book about integration and the paths that people follow — voluntarily or otherwise — as they slowly make Malta home, their island.
Neil Falzon, aditus Director, talking to the Times of Malta
On Friday, May 10, at the Casino Maltese, Valletta, aditus foundation launched Our Island II: Personal Accounts of Refugees in Malta with the support of the European Parliament Office in Malta, UNHCR Malta and the European Council on Refugees and Exiles. The publication of Our Island II, the second in the Our Island series of migration books, was funded through the President’s Award for Creativity, which is managed by Arts Council Malta.
The launch was a great success, with the upper gallery of the Casino Maltese full of friends and fans of the project, and books flying off the tables. Our guests included civil society colleagues, members of the press and many figures from Malta’s diverse migrant community.
Mary and Ousmane, two contributors to Our Island II, as well as aditus Director Neil Falzon, Senior Communication Coordinator at ECRE Villads Zahle and European Parliament Office in Malta Acting Head Anna Zammit addressed the gathered guests at the start of the evening.
Neil, in his opening speech, contemplated the value of Our Island as a vehicle for the revelation that is migrant voices and first-person migrant stories: new arrivals making Malta their own and explaining how that endeavour continues to unfold in their own words — rather than either being rendered anonymous and invisible by generic news coverage, public discourse and government policy, or being spoken for through the work of their NGO advocates.
In closing, Mary, originally from Sierra Leone, offered humour and encouragement. She arrived in Malta as a war refugee, wife and mother. She is now a Mater Dei Hospital paediatric nurse, homeowner and proud taxpayer studying for a master’s degree — having started her university education in Malta. Mary insisted, “Malta gave me a chance, a second chance at life… So, brothers and sisters, do not be disheartened. To be a refugee is not a disease. You can make it. If I can make it, you can also make it.”
For a copy of Our Island II (or Our Island I) against a nominal donation, write to us or give us a ring.
To see the album of Elisa Von Brockdorff’s fabulous photos from the launch, visit our Flickr page.
There are circumstances you find yourself in that absolutely strip you of all human dignity. It is a painful thing.
When people look at refugees…sometimes they’ve been through so much, just let them be. They don’t want to trouble you. They just want to fit in.
I know the feeling because that’s what I have always wanted, just a place I can say, “Look, I’m home.”
Nicky
Our Island II: Personal Accounts of Refugees in Malta gives space to 12 refugee and migrant stories to speak for themselves. It presents stories reflecting differences in the time spent in Malta, cultural and national background, gender, sexual orientation and gender identity, age, education and profession and family composition, here and away.
Our Island II also attempts to span a wide range of emotions and experiences: the anxiety caused by being locked up, surprise at a Maltese woman’s flirtatiousness, peer pressure within one’s own ethnic community, helplessness at being perpetually undocumented, pure joy at being united with family members, stress due to the constant need to ‘integrate’.
So when we said we were going to get married, some people were thinking, “An African marriage? How could it be nice?” But as soon as they arrived at our wedding, they were surprised at how people were, and at how people dressed…
People wore traditional clothes, and just like my boss, they were all dancing! When African music is put on, you not only want to listen, you want to move!
That’s why it was so much fun.
Ousman
12 stories: Nicky, Adil, Farah, Michael, Mary, Sekou, Agnes, Omar, Emad, Dursa, Hana, Ousman. Well, 11 stories and Emad’s poem. As you read through the stories, you will be invited into 12 very different worlds. You will get to know our contributors and be given a glimpse of their lives in Malta. They are indeed very different worlds, yet united by possibly two significant elements: the relationship between Malta and all narrators is based on otherness; and their protagonists are, quite honestly, regular people.
Our Island II will be launched on the 10th May 2019 at the Casino Maltese, Valletta. For more information email: [email protected]aditus.org.mt.
What is the new Specific Residence Authorisation?
Who is eligible for it?
What rights/obligations are attached to it?
We’ve uploaded Fact Sheet 16: Specific Residence Authorisation to our Know your rights! page…where you can find information on many legal/policy issues.
Need a Fact Sheet on any human rights issue in Malta? Give us ideas, and also any corrections if you notice mistakes.
