We are all shocked and saddened to hear of the arrest and detention of several Ethiopian nationals in recent days. These individuals are now being threatened with deportation after having lived and worked legally in Malta for many years, with the knowledge and permission of the authorities.
These recent immigration raids targeting people with rejected asylum applications have sent shockwaves throughout the broader refugee community. While some of those directly affected had arrived in Malta relatively recently, many had spent several years here, some up to 20 years. For most of this time they worked legally, paying taxes and social security contributions.
The five arrested men have had their lives uprooted without any warning. They were forced to leave their jobs, homes, friendships, and belongings behind. Within minutes, their lives were rewound as they were taken away to the same place where they had first encountered Malta so many years ago: a detention centre. There, procedures are under way to send them back to a country they barely know, where their support system may be non-existent, and where they may be at risk of harm.
These unnecessary and cruel actions have a devastating impact not only on the people arrested, but on whole communities. In an instant, they dispel the sense of safety built over time, replacing it with an overwhelming feeling of fragility, mistrust and fear.
And it is not only refugee communities that are impacted. They are our neighbours, colleagues, partners, schoolmates, friends who have contributed to our lives in many different ways, not just through their work and taxes. They are one of us and Malta is also their home.
We appeal to the Government to create a pathway to regularisation for these and other rejected asylum-seekers who have lived and worked in Malta for years with the authorisation of the competent authorities.
This is indeed possible, as the examples in so many EU Member States clearly demonstrate. At the time, Malta’s own Specific Residence Authorisation policy was hailed as a European good practice. There are plenty of lessons to be learnt from these experiences and the Malta Refugee Council stands ready to engage with the Home Affairs Ministry on this urgent matter.
We also urge the Government to immediately release the detained Ethiopian nationals!
We call on members of the public and all people of good will to stand against the inhumane practice of rounding up people who have built their lives here and have become, in more ways than one, part of who we are. In the words of Bryan Stevenson, “we are all implicated when we allow other people to be mistreated … the absence of compassion can corrupt the decency of a community”.
Statement of:
aditus foundation
African Media Association (Malta)
Blue Door Education
Caritas Malta
Chaplain of Corradino Correctional Facility
Chaplains of Mater Dei Hospital and of SAMOC
Christian Life Community (CLC) – Malta
Dar Hosea
Department of Disability Studies, University of Malta
Department of Social Policy and Social Work, University of Malta
Department of Youth, Community and Migration Studies, University of Malta
Djar tal-Knisja għall-Anzjani
Drachma LGBTI+ Parents
Fondazzjoni St. Jeanne Antide
Fondazzjoni Suret il-Bniedem
Humanists Malta
Jesuit Refugee Service (Malta)
KOPIN
Kummissjoni Ġustizzja u Paċi, Arċidjoċesi ta’ Malta
Men Against Violence
MGRM (Malta LGBTIQ Rights Movement)
Migrants Commission
Migrant Women Association Malta
Migrant Offshore Aid Station (MOAS)
Millenium Chapel
Moviment Graffitti
Faculty of Education, University of Malta
Faculty of Social Wellbeing, University of Malta
Paulo Freire Institute Foundation
PEN Malta
Repubblika
Segretarjat Assistenza Socjali – Azzjoni Kattolika Maltija
SOS Malta
Spark15
Sudanese Community Malta
Victim Support Malta
Women’s Rights Foundation
Photo credit: Darrin Zammit Lupi/Reuters
