News | Sunday, 08 February 2009

PRINT THIS ARTICLE

Youth roll up their sleaves for migrants’ solidarity

A group of young people doing volunatary work with immigrants yesterday launched the Migrants’ Solidarity Movement with the aim of combating misconceptions while giving a helping hand with integration.
The group is made up of people who are active in the field of immigration in Malta and abroad, and one of the projects already launched is a series of English lessons to immigrants.
“We saw that the debate and policy surrounding immigration issues in Malta leave a lot to be desired, with the emphasis being always on the problems that immigration poses,” said Ann Bugeja on behalf of the new movement. “This is creating an atmosphere of panic amongst the Maltese public and hostility towards immigrants is on the rise; factors which can potentially lead to the exclusion of immigrants living in Malta. … We hope that through our activities and projects we will positively influence political decisions regarding the fundamental human rights of migrants, and counter the rising atmosphere of xenophobia in our country.”
The movement also launched a new project yesterday called International Creations. Funded by the Youth Support Programme, the project is meant to bring together Maltese and immigrant artists to work together on a music production, a magazine on immigration and a short film.
“The main aim of our organisation is to pass on the message that, while immigration is indeed posing challenges to a small country like Malta, politics that do not respect the fundamental rights of person and an atmosphere of racism and xenophobia certainly won’t make the situation any easier,” Bugeja said.

Migrants’ solidarity
www.migrantssolidaritymovement.org

The movement’s burning issues:

• European policy is creating a situation where immigrants are getting stuck in Malta even if this was not their desired destination. The movement believes that the Dublin II Convention, that forces asylum-seekers to stay in the first country where they claimed asylum, is unfair and needs to be changed.
• Deportation of immigrants back to Libya, and other measures which stop immigrants in the middle of the sea and force them to turn back: The movement considers these kinds of solutions as inhumane. Libya sends asylum-seekers back to countries of origin like Somalia and Eritrea, where they suffer persecution, abuse and even death. Furthermore, in Libya many immigrants are being thrown into prisons where they face great abuse.
• The number of immigrants in Malta: The movement will argue against misconceptions based on the perception that all the immigrants that arrive in Malta remain here. In fact more than half of all the immigrants who came to Malta by boat have left our country
• Racism and xenophobia: The movement is going to have projects which facilitate the inclusion of immigrants in Malta and which give the Maltese public more knowledge about the situations migrants face, both in their home countries and in Malta.
• The detention system is unjust and useless. The fact that Malta detains immigrants who are fleeing wars and dictatorships, for up to 18 months in very bad conditions, goes against the fundamental human rights and doesn’t in any way deter more migrants from coming to Malta. This is also inevitably causing a lot of frustration and tension in these closed centers.
• Open centers: These centers are a good way of dealing with accommodation for immigrants. However the system could be better managed. Placing open centers in areas that can lead to exclusion is something which has to be avoided and every effort must be made so that these structures have decent conditions.
• Work and immigration: Whilst the movement understands that many Maltese persons are facing lot of pressures and difficult working conditions, all this cannot be blamed on immigrants. Maltese institutions must work to stop the exploitation of migrant workers

Any comments?
If you wish your comments to be published in our Letters pages please click button below.
Please write a contact number and a postal address where you may be contacted.