Migrants' babies in legal limbo after rescue

A baby who was born on a migrants' boat off Malta in November 2008 still cannot be registered in any country, while twins born within minutes of their mother having been flown to Malta from the same boat by an AFM helicopter have been duly registered.

The baby's plight was highlighted by Mgr Philip Calleja, director of the Church's Emigrants' Commission, in a statement today.

Mgr Calleja in his statement pointed to areas of legislation and administration which need to be changed.

He said that while he was not a lawyer, it was clear that when the law was enacted, no one could have anticipated this and similar cases involving migrants.

In this case, the mother could not go back to Libya to register her baby. Nor could she register the child in her own country.

He said that registration in Malta would not entitle the child to any right. However, the UN Human Right Convention urged states "to identify and remove physical, administrative and any other barriers that impede access to birth registration, including late registration."

MIGRANT FAMILY REUNIONS

On family reunions, Mgr Calleja noted that while Malta granted protection for migrants to live in Malta, they could not be joined by their families. As a result, some migrants had been separated from their families for as long as eight years.

He said the Emigrants' Commission was proposing that migrants who had been living in Malta for five years, had been in legal employment for three consecutive years and could guarantee accommodation for their family should be granted the right to be joined by their wife and children.

MALTESE CITIZENSHIP

Furthermore, he said, once those migrants who were granted refugee status could live in Malta indefinitely and since they were not being allowed resettlement by the UNHCR, the period after which they could register as Maltese citizens should be reduced to five years instead of the current ten years.

SOCIAL BENEFITS

Furthermore, migrants who worked legally and paid social security contributions along with their employers should be eligible to the same benefits given to Maltese workers.

See Mgr Calleja's statement in full by clicking the pdf below.