Amnesty International Malta Group would like to make the following clarifications with regard to the letter by Louise Vella (Immigrants And Refugees, June 23).

Ms Vella asks "Why should Maltese employers hire migrants if they must pay them the same?". This begs the question: Is Ms Vella justifying the exploitation of migrant workers? Maltese law strongly prohibits the employment of anyone with a wage lower than the minimum wage and therefore the employers who employ migrants with a lower wage are in breach of Maltese law and not only migrants' rights.

The issue is of confusion of migrants and refugees. Maltese law does not only provide for the protection of those who qualify under the definition of refugee. Maltese law, as does European law, provides also for subsidiary forms of protection in the situation where the migrant does not fall squarely within the (restrictive) definition of refugee under the convention but it would still be unsafe for such a person to be returned to his/her country of origin. Approximately 55 per cent of migrants arriving in Malta receive some form of protection, be it refugee status or humanitarian protection.

We feel we must disagree with Ms Vella on her final remark: "Refugees and not immigrants and immigrants are not refugees".

Immigrants arriving in Malta in the very vast majority of cases apply for asylum and from that point on they have the right incumbent upon all asylum seekers. Seeking asylum in another state is a fundamental right enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other subsequent conventions. Every refugee must arrive in a country as a migrant. The irregularity of entry should not bar access to the protection one may deserve.

I invite Ms Vella to refer to a few reports written by the UN, AI and other organisations. Migrants in Malta come mainly from war-torn countries like Sudan (I suggest a visit to www.eyesondarfur.org), Chad, DRC and Eritrea, all countries in which human rights abuses are a common occurrence. For further information or any questions please do not hesitate to contact us on info@amnestymalta.org

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