Racism reports
Louise Vella's letter Racial Discrimination Reports (September 14) was an eye-opener as it provided the key to some Jesuit activities on what used to be called refugees and are now generally recognised as illegal immigrants. Taking her cue, I did some...
Louise Vella's letter Racial Discrimination Reports (September 14) was an eye-opener as it provided the key to some Jesuit activities on what used to be called refugees and are now generally recognised as illegal immigrants. Taking her cue, I did some research on the internet, which I would like to share with readers.
On http://fra.europa.eu I confirmed that the Jesuit Centre for Faith and Justice (JCFJ) is the Maltese national focal point (NFP) of what is called Raxen, that is, Racism and Xenophobia Network, within the Vienna-based European Agency for Fundamental Rights. JCFJ adds: "As regards our work as RAXEN NFP in Malta, we are working with a number of partners.
Representatives from the General Workers Union, the Malta Union of Teachers and the Malta Association for Human Rights collect data on employment, education and legislation respectively... The firm Ernst & Young (accountants and auditors) has joined the other partners in giving our organisation the benefit of its experience".
What exactly is the role of the GWU and the MUT in these reports? Have the relevant activities been approved by their governing bodies? What is their share of any revenue from the Raxen reports? One would also like to know the identity and activities of the so-called Malta Association of Human Rights and if it is connected with the Jesuit Order.
On http://www.enar-eu.org I found that the European Network Against Racism (ENAR) is a network of NGOs, 10 of them in Malta.
They are the JCFJ (again!), the Jesuit Refugee Service, Amnesty International Malta Branch, the Malta Gay Rights Movement, Moviment Graffiti, Third World Group, Integra Foundation, Suret il-Bniedem Foundation, the Independent Media Centre Malta and IDEAL International Malta Branch.
It is difficult to trace the membership of some of these associations, but there seems to be some overlapping. In July 2006, they published ENAR Report 2005: Racism in Malta which, not surprisingly, duplicates the information contained in the Raxen reports.
Those of us who follow closely the debate on illegal immigration in Malta should realise that a lot of what we read originates from the same source.