Italian/Maltese stand-off
Monday, April 20 - Following a four-day stand-off with Malta over the fate of would-be migrants, Italy has allowed a Turkish cargo ship carrying about 140 rescued asylum seekers to dock in one of its ports.  Italy's Foreign Minister said the deal was reached after intervention by the President of the European Commission, who spoke to the prime ministers of Italy and Malta.

The migrants were originally picked up 41 nautical miles off Lampedusa (114 from Malta) but the ship was refused entry into Italian waters by the Italian authorities, who insisted that the migrants should be brought to Malta (responsible for search and rescue in the region).

The Italian authorities informed Malta that they did not have resources available to assist the Turkish ship (Pinar E), and that the rescued migrants were to head towards Malta. Soon after, the Italian authorities instructed the Pinar E not to enter their territorial waters, and that an Italian naval vessel was being dispatched to ensure this.  In contrast, the Maltese authorities argued that according to international conventions, the migrants should be landed at the nearest safe port – which in this case was Lampedusa.

Reports from Italy stated that many migrants were dehydrated and in significant pain following the ordeal, which had left one pregnant dead and many others seriously ill (with doctors discovering cases of chicken pox and high fever among those rescued).

Italy's Interior Minister Roberto Maroni has said his country would report Malta to the European Union for failing to intervene, and has accused Malta of dumping the migrants on Italy.

During the week, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon had refused to be drawn into the dispute, stating, "I sympathise fully with the challenges facing the government and the people of Malta but much more needs to be done to accommodate refugees properly and to provide assistance in line with international conventions".

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Report exposes appalling conditions in Maltese detention centres

Tuesday, April 21 - According to a new report from Médecins Sans Frontières, asylum seekers and migrants who arrive in Malta are subjected to confinement in detention centres where appalling living conditions put their mental and physical health at risk. This month MSF launched their report ‘Not Criminals’, to highlight the unacceptable and inhuman living conditions in these centres and renew the call for immediate improvements to living conditions and detention policies in Malta.

MSF, along with JRS and other national NGOs, continue to highlight the appalling living conditions in the detention centres to the Maltese authorities. However, despite some initiatives to improve reception conditions, the centres are still far from meeting the European Commission Directive on minimum standards for the reception of asylum seekers.

In March, MSF suspended its activities inside detention centres and publicly denounced the living conditions and associated risks to which migrants and asylum seekers were exposed. In its report ‘Not Criminals’, MSF uncovers the unacceptable conditions of detention and its impact on the physical and mental health of the migrants and asylum seekers in Malta.

To read the report, follow this link.

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Work permits denied to failed asylum seekers
(Courtesy of MALTA TODAY on Sunday)

Sunday, April 12 - Asylum seekers whose application has been rejected twice are no longer considered eligible for temporary, renewable three-month work permits, after a recent change of policy by the  Maltese Employment Training Corporation (ETC).  An ETC spokesman confirmed this week that rejected asylum seekers are no longer being allowed to renew their temporary work permits – valid for three months – which up until recently enabled them to legally carry out casual work, pending their removal from the country.

ETC’s initiative coincides with a similar policy, introduced in the past two weeks, whereby rejected asylum seekers are encouraged to leave the open accommodation centres run by the government’s integration agency, OAIWAS.  Before this policy change, failed asylum seekers could reside in an open centre after their period of mandatory detention, and were also eligible to receive a ‘per diem’ allowance of approximately €4.50. Now, permission to remain in open centres is limited to a maximum of six months, after which all existing benefits – including the per diem allowance – are automatically suspended.

Social worker Terry Gosden, who formerly ran the Marsa Open Centre, expressed alarm at the new policies, which he claims will fuel racism and create more social unrest connected with immigration. “All failed asylum seekers currently living in the community, whose number is unknown but may be more than 1,000, and who are working legally, can no longer renew their work books,” Gosden explained. “This places both themselves and society at risk, as they will very soon be unable to acquire the basics for survival, like food, shelter, and so on.”

Gosden claims the initiative will endanger the stability of our society. “We will be turning a large number of people, whose only crime was to seek asylum, into criminals. When they start stealing to eat, or start sleeping on the streets of Valletta, racism is likely to soar. The scenario is frankly scary.” While concurring with the need to regularise the position of failed asylum seekers, Terry Gosden told this newspaper that the way forward is not to “starve them back to Africa”, as he describes this latest tactic. “Yes, we should encourage people to return to country of origin, by a mixture of forced returns, and Assisted Voluntary Return programmes which Europe would willingly fund,” he said. “But the way we are going will turn us into the outcasts of Europe. We should be hard on Europe, not victimise the victims. As things are, this policy will endanger these people’s ability to eat, as well as risk losing what’s left of our humanity.”

Contacted on Thursday, OAIWAS director Alexander Tortell said he was unaware of the new policy, but insisted that any initiative regarding the renewal of work permits was up to the ETC, and as such his agency would not be getting involved. “This is an immigration issue, and has little to do with integration of refugees,” he said.

But if the concerns of social workers like Terry Gosden are to be heeded, the policy may have a direct bearing on Malta’s ability to integrate successful asylum seekers, as well as those whose applications were turned down.

Reacting to last week’s announcement of the new policy of a six-month limit at open centres, Dr Katrine Camilleri of the Jesuit Refugee Services expressed concern at how policy changes like these may affect vulnerable cases. “While it is clear that rejected asylum seekers do not have any legal right to remain in Malta, the fact remains that there are a number of people who cannot be returned home, in spite of the fact that they are not granted legal protection,” she commented yesterday.

“The general assumption is that this must be their fault, because they are being dishonest about their true identity, or because they are not cooperating with the authorities’ legitimate attempts to remove them. However, in practice this is not always the case.” JRS outlined its position that people who cannot be returned home, despite not being entitled to protection, should be provided with basic shelter and the means to live with dignity.

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Katrine Camilleri Nansen Refugee Award Photos published on UNHCR Flickr

Thursday, April 23 - Following on from Katrine Camilleri's success with the Nansen Award in 2007, UNHCR has published a series of photos  demonstrating Katrine's work.  You can view the photos here.