We are not surprised to read the news that yet another group of migrants were found living in squalor. On the one hand, it is terribly upsetting that more and more people have recognised an economic opportunity in this inhuman business. They are profiting by racist exploitation that ‘houses’ people in structures designed and intended for animals. Essentially, they reflect what we’ve been saying for far too long: Malta’s economic boom lives off the exploitation of migrants and returns close to nothing to its slave labourers.
Continue ReadingTag: refugees
Our 3 fresh policy papers on refugee integration, with Integra & JRS!
On 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):
- Family Unit: a Fundamental Right highlights our concerns with Malta’s absolute ban on family reunification for beneficiaries of subsidiary protection, and urges Government to grant this right;
- Input to the Ministry for European Affairs and Equality on the Migrant Integration Strategy and Action Plan focuses on the newly-adopted national integration strategy and seeks to strengthen its effectiveness by suggesting ministry-by-ministry actions and interventions;
- Long-Term Residence and Citizenship by Naturalisation: A Necessity for Integration underlines the challenges faced by refugees as they attempt to secure a more stable presence in Malta, with a series of recommendations on how to make these avenues more accessible to them.
Do not hesitate to contact us should you require further information.
The El Hiblu 1 Case
On 30 March 2019 three teenage migrants – aged 15, 16 and 19 – were charged before Malta’s Courts. The most serious charges include acts of terrorism. If found guilty, they’ll spend the rest of their lives in prison.
They were rescued by a commercial vessel, the El Hiblu 1. Despite promises that they would be delivered to safety, the El Hiblu 1 sailed to Libya. Upon realising what had happened, the rescued migrants protested.
They simply couldn’t be returned to the horrible treatment they’d been suffering in Libya.
Book Launch: Our Island II: Personal Accounts of Refugees in Malta
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.
“Disembarkation, finally!” – Joint NGO reaction to the authorisation to disembark 49 rescued migrants
We welcome Malta’s decision to allow the disembarkation of the 49 migrants rescued by NGO boats, most of whom spent 18 days at sea. Disembarkation will ensure that they are provided with safety, shelter, and care.
We also appreciate the solidarity expressed by other Member States and institutions of the European Union, in agreeing to share the responsibility of hosting the rescued migrants.
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