People still need protection - JRS

JRS Malta has called on the government to re-affirm its commitment to provide asylum to refugees and forcibly displaced people and to seek alternatives to detention.

In a statement issued to mark World Refugee Day, the JRS said:

“States are increasingly concerned with immigration and border control, often at the expense of protection. We need to realise that denying asylum seekers access to protection is to expose them to further violations of their human rights.”

World Refugee Day was a stark reminder that more people than ever were being forced to flee their homes and countries in search of safety, stability and protection.

Almost all people reaching Malta in search of protection arrived after enduring persecution or violence in their country, a harsh journey across the Sahara desert, hostility or even imprisonment in transit countries, and a dangerous sea journey. Asylum seekers did not deliberately place themselves outside the law; they were forced to use irregular means of entry because it was impossible for them to obtain protection in any other way.

“Today is a good time to ask ourselves what kind of protection we are providing to those fleeing persecution. Even those who manage to enter Malta and seek asylum are detained for many months in harsh conditions and, upon release, must live with discrimination, hostility and, at times, violence.”

Jesuit Refugee Service Malta paid tribute to the refugee community in Malta, acknowledging “the extraordinary resilience of men, women and children” who overcame the most difficult of circumstances in their search for freedom and safety. “Far from being a burden, well integrated refugees become net contributors to their host countries.”

It called upon the government to adopt alternatives to detention which respected asylum seekers as people. This would be far more in line with the values that Maltese society professed to be defined by, it said.