Calls for recognition of migrants without status

Practical solutions must be found to deal with illegal immigrants refused refugee or humanitarian status, Emigrants Commission head Mgr Philip Calleja said.

Speaking at a seminar for workers and volunteers in the sector, Mgr Calleja said the difficulties faced by their mission would take an acute turn for the worse if solutions were not forthcoming.

The number of rejected cases was more or less the same as those granted refugee or humanitarian status.

Most of the immigrants whose case was rejected remain here. The main difficulty was where to deport them to, as the country they had lived in would probably reject them because they had been illegal immigrants there too and, as such, were unknown to the authorities.

Mgr Calleja suggested that a distinction be made between rejected cases where the individuals did not merit any protection and those that international entities recommended should not be repatriated.

Such people should be classified as "persons of concern" who were entitled to benefit from resettlement programmes, he said.

Mgr Calleja spoke about the plight of family members who ended up separated from one another. He knew of at least 73 individuals who had been separated and they included Somalis, Eritreans, Sudanese, Congolese and Ethiopians.

Although it was difficult for the Maltese authorities to accept also the family members who live in another country, it was necessary to find some mechanism that could bring these people together because not doing so was inhumane and unjust. He appealed for an urgent solution to this quandary.

The chairman of the Emigrants' Commission's refugee section, Ruth Farrugia, said running expenses last year amounted to Lm22,392. This included water and electricity bills, repairs and maintenance, rent, cleaning materials, milk for infants, medical expenses, stationery, transport and telephone bills