Updated: 39 organisations call for immediate release of detained Ethiopian nationals
A group of 39 organisations have called on the government to immediately release Ethiopian nationals who were recently arrested and detained.The organisations said that they are all shocked and saddened to hear of the arrest and detention o
A group of 39 organisations have called on the government to immediately release Ethiopian nationals who were recently arrested and detained.
The organisations said that they 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," the organisations said
"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."
Five arrested men have had their lives uprooted without any warning, they said. "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," the organisations said.
They said that 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."
The organisations appealed 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."
The organisations called on members of the public and all people of goodwill "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'."
The statement was signed by: the Malta Refugee Council, the 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, and Youth Alive Foundation.
In a separate statement of their own, the Migrants Commission, the Justice and Peace Commission - both of which form part of the Archdiocese of Malta, and JRS Malta called on all Members of Parliament, especially the Social Affairs Committee, to convene and discuss this matter with urgency so that in collaboration with civil society organisations they could find a solution that respected individual rights and safeguarded every member of our society.
"We consider these recent actions to be unjust, indiscriminate and cruel and call upon the government to immediately release these individuals and to regularise their position," the three entities said in a joint statement. The three called on the authorities to heed the message of Pope Francis who during his General Audience recently dedicated his message to migrants and singled out the good Samaritans who did their utmost to rescue and save injured and abandoned migrants on the routes of desperate hope, in the five continents. "These courageous men and women are a sign of a humanity that does not allow itself to be contaminated by the malign culture of indifference and rejection - it is our indifference and that attitude of rejection that kills migrants," Pope Francis said.
The three entities said these Ethiopians were being targeted under the pretext of having come to Malta irregularly to seek asylum, which at the time was not granted. Despite this, most spent years - up to 17 years in some cases - living and working with the knowledge and authorisation of the authorities, who granted them employment licences, and residence permits. Over the years they have contributed to society and become an integral part of the community, paying their taxes and social solidarity contributions, they said.
"They are valued and trained employees, whose experience will be hard to replace. They are our neighbours, our colleagues, our friends, the people who greet us in the street, who care for our elderly relatives, and cleaned our hospital wards during the COVID-19 pandemic," the three entities said.
These incidents are the latest in a series of raids which saw the lives of tens of migrants who had made Malta their home upended without warning and locked up, so that preparations can be made to send them to their country of origin, they said
Beyond the impact such actions had on these persons, it created a climate of fear and insecurity for members of society who over the past years contributed to everyone's wellbeing, they said. These actions are constant reminders by the State of how easily it can arbitrarily and indiscriminately trample over all the accomplishments these members of society achieved through their hard work and sacrifices, they added.
"Such unjust practices and policies create fear and discrimination, and undermine the very fabric of our communities," they said.
Quoting Pope Francis's encyclical Fratelli Tutti, the Church entities said society should be built on respect, trust, solidarity and an acknowledgement of "the inalienable dignity of each human person regardless of origin, race or religion, and the supreme law of fraternal love".
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