Malta’s institutions are racist and dehumanizing, we must do better

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According to the International Organization for Migration, the UN migration agency, more people have died crossing the central Mediterranean in the first three months of this year than in any other year since 2017.

Our government, while by no means the only government responsible for these numbers, has repeatedly failed to fulfill its search and rescue responsibilities under international law.

Far too often, people at risk of dying at sea are left there, while political leaders bicker over who is responsible for rescuing them and bringing them to a safe port.

This led to the deaths of 30 people in an incident in March and the unlawful refoulement of almost 500 people at the end of May.

This is a symptom of a larger problem, and is unfortunately only the tip of the iceberg of grievances that reveal the systemic racism of our institutions.

It is often claimed that Libya is a safe port and that returns of migrants to Libya are justified. However, it is anything but.

The testimonies of children, women and men who lived through detentions in Libya depict an environment of systemic violence, torture and rape in Libyan camps. It is not a safe port and such pushbacks are illegal.

The situation in Libya is so dire that in one case, when a cargo ship tried to bring its rescued passengers back to Libya, the passengers pleaded with the ship’s crew to take them to Europe and some four people even threatened to jump overboard.

Upon their arrival in Malta, the government took action against three teenagers who acted as translators during the ordeal. They are charged with terrorism which can result in life imprisonment.

This is the case of El Hiblu 3. The government has not yet dropped the charges.

If they manage to land safely, migrants are then placed in detention centers upon arrival. Malta’s detention centers are notorious for human rights abuses, which were flagged in the 2021 report of the Council of Europe’s Anti-Torture Committee.

These centers are highly militarized complexes, where hundreds of people are crammed into small spaces, do not have access to hygiene and cleaning products to keep the place clean, are often not even allowed to leave and where the buildings lack basic maintenance.

Children, unaccompanied minors and vulnerable people are also detained in these centers despite the existence of clear policies and protocols prohibiting their detention.

No sane person will ever be able to justify the inhuman treatment of migrants in these centres. And we are doing ourselves a disservice by allowing such treatments to continue.

Unjustified degrading treatment continues even when migrants are finally able to participate in society. Migrants and their children face numerous bureaucratic obstacles, including the possibility of obtaining long-term residence and work permits.

Some children are also stateless, probably born en route to Europe, which can lead to problems when they are rejected from schools because they have no papers.

In Malta, the criteria for citizenship are extremely strict and applications can be rejected without any reason.

It dehumanizes migrants – it leads to institutional racism, and ultimately to tragedies such as the cold-blooded murder of Lassana Cissé, for whom justice has yet to be served.

Some LGBTQI+ migrants may also have their refugee and asylum status denied on the grounds that they come from a safe country, even if the countries they come from have legislation that criminalizes LGBTQI+ people.

There is no point pretending to be a paragon for LGBTQI+ rights, when we fail to extend those rights to people whose states criminalize them for who they are.

Unfortunately, refugees and migrants are often used as scapegoats for very internal problems. Instead of blaming the black migrant community, we should seek out the root cause of our problems and realize that they are much closer to home.

It is the most powerful and privileged among us who cause our problems of constant traffic, noise and overdevelopment, not people fleeing their homes in search of dignity and opportunities elsewhere.

If we are to be a society that values ​​human life and dignity, the government must end its divisive rhetoric and practices, which reinforce the violence seen at sea; house searches of asylum seekers; and xenophobic statements made by politicians.

Such rhetoric encourages racism and more violence. Only then will we stop criminalizing people for the color of their skin and can we claim to value the well-being and lives of others.

It is a symptom of a larger problem and, unfortunately, it is only the tip of the iceberg of grievances that reveal the systemic racism of our institutions.

It is often claimed that Libya is a safe port and that returns of migrants to Libya are justified. However, it is anything but.

Testimonies from children, women and men who have been detained in Libya describe an environment of systemic violence, torture and rape in Libyan camps. It is not a safe port and such pushbacks are illegal.

The situation in Libya is so dire that in one case, when a cargo ship tried to bring its rescued passengers back to Libya, the passengers begged the ship’s crew to take them to Europe, and some four people even threatened to jump overboard.

When they arrived in Malta, the government took action against three teenagers who served as translators during the ordeal. They are charged with terrorism which can result in life imprisonment.

This is the case of El Hiblu 3. The government has not yet dropped the charges.

If they manage to land safely, migrants are then placed in detention centers upon arrival. Malta’s detention centers are notorious for their human rights violations, as reported in the 2021 report of the Council of Europe’s Anti-Torture Committee.

These centers are highly militarized complexes, where hundreds of people are crammed into small spaces, do not have access to hygiene and cleaning products to keep the place clean, are often not even allowed to leave and where the buildings lack basic maintenance.

Children, unaccompanied minors and vulnerable people are also detained in these centers despite clear policies and protocols prohibiting their detention.

No sane person will ever be able to justify the inhuman treatment of migrants in these centres. And we are doing ourselves a disservice by allowing such treatments to continue.

Unjustified degrading treatment continues even when migrants are finally able to participate in society. Migrants and their children face numerous bureaucratic hurdles, including obtaining long-term residence and work permits.

Some children are also stateless, probably born en route to Europe, which can lead to problems when they are rejected from schools because they have no papers.

In Malta, the criteria for citizenship are extremely strict and applications can be rejected without any reason.

This dehumanizes migrants, leading to institutional racism, and ultimately to tragedies such as the cold-blooded murder of Lassana Cissé, for whom justice has yet to be served.

Some LGBTQI+ migrants may also have their refugee and asylum status denied on the grounds that they come from a safe country, even if the countries they come from have legislation that criminalizes LGBTQI+ people.

There is no point pretending to be a paragon for LGBTQI+ rights when we fail to extend those rights to people whose states criminalize them for who they are.

Unfortunately, refugees and migrants are often used as scapegoats for very internal problems. Instead of blaming the black migrant community, we should seek out the root cause of our problems and realize that they are much closer to home.

It is the most powerful and privileged among us who cause our problems of constant traffic, noise and overdevelopment, not people fleeing their homes in search of dignity and opportunities elsewhere.

If we are to be a society that values ​​human life and dignity, the government must end its divisive rhetoric and practices, which reinforce the violence seen at sea; house searches of asylum seekers; and xenophobic statements made by politicians.

Such rhetoric encourages racism and more violence. Only then will we stop criminalizing people for the color of their skin and can we claim to value the well-being and lives of others.

Miguel Azzopardi is an activist in the Graffiti Movement

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