NEWS | Sunday, 15 July 2007

Invisible people – Malta’s 2,000 rejected asylum seekers

By Matthew Vella
They have no work permit, they live on a meagre daily allowance from the state, and they live in the boredom of heaving open centres – aimless and stuck in limbo.
The destiny of Malta’s estimated 2,000 rejected asylum seekers awaiting a removal order is bleak and often unknown. Here is where their trail into the black economy begins… either in Malta, or – if once again trafficked out of the island - on the European mainland, where they will immerse themselves in the black market in a bid to earn a meagre living.
A recent study by the Jesuit Refugee Society on destitute migrants effectively reveals how, bereft of any form of legal status or rights, rejected asylum seekers are easily lost to the black economy and have little scope or aim in integrating with Maltese society.
This is a real case of destitution – the poorest members of Maltese society are in fact African migrants whose claims for asylum have been rejected. Stripped of any legal entitlement, these failed asylum seekers effectively await deportation from the open centre.
But deportation is a process that takes months, shackled by long waits for documentation, visas, and transit visas. And during this period, individuals with a removal order are expected to live on a Lm1.75 daily allowance.
The report says that the Maltese state acknowledges rejected asylum seekers, issuing them with a short-term visa which is, however, often renewed at the authorities’ discretion. Effectively, when the visa is not renewed, they are illegally staying in Malta.
But without entitlement to a work permit, rejected asylum seekers in open centres rely on NGOs for food, clothing and other essentials and any sort of irregular employment they can get.
The worst aspect is the lack of scope for integration: rejected asylum seekers feel socially excluded and the living conditions in open centres are consistently poor. State contact is limited to the issuance of a visa. They hide from the authorities because of their irregular stay on the territory and are prohibited from accessing the formal labour market, which is a barrier to their participation in society.
As the report says, many of these rejected claimants are stuck in destitution without a full set of legal and social rights, because the Maltese state is unsuccessful in removing them for practical reasons.
Their access to healthcare is not even guaranteed under law but based on practice, the report states. And while healthcare remains free of charge medicines should be paid for. Even then, rejected asylum seekers in some cases do not visit hospitals when in need due to a fear that medical staff will report them.
The JRS report recommended that all entitlements for rejected asylum seekers are incorporated into Maltese law and granted maltese access to healthcare, housing and social support and the right to access the formal labour market up until the moment of return.