The Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) Malta welcomes the ground breaking
court judgment in the case of the two Somali nationals forcibly returned to
Libya in 2004.
On 29 November the court ruled that the government decision to forcibly
return Abdul Hakim Hassan Abdulle and Kasim Ibrahim Nur to Libya violated
their human rights. After being sent back without being allowed to apply for
asylum, they were imprisoned in miserable conditions, tortured, dumped on
the desert border and left to die there.
“This judgment is important because it stresses that governments cannot just
send people to a country where there is a real risk that they will face
serious harm and hope to get away with it by claiming they did not know of
the dangers, which were well documented by credible international
organisations,” said Dr Katrine Camilleri, JRS Malta director.
“In a world where governments are resorting to ever more aggressive border
control measures, such as push-backs to countries known to have very poor
human rights records, the significance of this judgement cannot be
underestimated.”
As the court makes clear, every single person, whether or not he enters the
country legally, must be protected from cruel, inhuman and degrading
treatment, simply because he is a human being and has fundamental rights
that cannot be denied.
The judgment highlights the unimaginable horrors that Abdul Hakim and Kasim
endured in Libya, because this basic principle was disregarded. It also
reminds us that they were two out of six people deported from Malta; the
rest died.
This case is particularly worrying as the asylum seekers concerned had
landed in Malta, but they were sent back to Libya without being allowed to
apply for asylum.
“Given what is at stake for the people sent back, we must be ultra-vigilant
to make sure this does not happen again,” Dr Camilleri said.
It is now less likely that asylum seekers landing in Malta will be returned
without being allowed to apply for protection, as procedures for people to
apply for protection have improved since 2009. However, with the overthrow
of Gaddafi and the end of the conflict in Libya, there is a real risk that
neighbouring countries, like Malta and Italy, will try to reach agreements
with the new government to return migrants who left from there.
“Although the situation in Libya may have changed, the safety of migrants
and asylum seekers there is still far from guaranteed. Malta must commit to
ensuring that no one is sent to any country where he cannot obtain
protection and where he risks serious human rights violations,” Dr Camilleri
added.
Related reading:
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20111201/local/-Inhuman-to-return-immigrants-to-Libya.396377
