Refugees do not want to be warehoused in camps and they will continue to die unless their needs are taken into account, according to human rights lawyer Katrine Camilleri.

Speaking at a civil society seminar organised by Aditus, JRS and Integra just before the launch of the Valletta Summit, Dr Camilleri yesterday expressed concern that the needs of refugees and migrants were hardly taken into account and their voices remained unheard.

The migration debate was exclusively about the needs of European states and not about what migrants are willing to die for, she said.

“Unless we look at these needs, any solutions we come up with will fail,” she said on behalf of local NGOs, noting that refugees were “looking for life” and not just survival.

“Refugees are looking for protection, which is about more than mere survival – it is about the possibility to belong to a community once again.

“They don’t want to be warehoused in camps without the possibility of belonging. Unless we take these needs into account, people will effectively be denied protection and continue to lose their lives in their attempt to find life,” she said.

In the past two years, at least 6,892 people have died in the Mediterranean trying to reach Europe.

The summit on migration, convened by the European Council, was another opportunity to go beyond words and move to concrete action, Dr Camilleri said. Faced with an unprecedented challenge of migration, the EU’s response has mainly focused on strengthening border control and improving mechanisms to return migrants.

So far, no steps have been taken to create safe and legal ways for people to reach a place where they can find protection, so refugees are forced to put themselves into the hands of smugglers and risk their lives.

The states participating in the summit are being urged to act urgently so that people will no longer die in their desperate search for protection.

“We are not saying that border controls and security are not important, but people are by far more important,” Dr Camilleri added.

The event included the participation of speakers from international human rights organisations, such as Iverna McGowan from Amnesty International, who noted that civil society representatives were being excluded from EU Council summits and debates.

“It is very hard to get hold of documents following these debates, while civil society is not invited to address or even observe such discussions, and this lack of transparency at the European capital does not set a good example for other states,” she said.

African and European civil society demands

1. Tackle causes that force people to migrate, such as war, persecution, climate change and lack of economic opportunities. Ensure that humanitarian and development aid is not used as a bargaining chip to prevent migration but to save lives and eradicate poverty.

2. Ensure safe and regular migration routes to Europe to prevent deaths and suffering.

3. Ensure the effective implementation of anti-trafficking legislation, acknowledging gender aspects of human trafficking.

4. Ensure protection of human rights in return operations and negotiations, including readmission agreements. Prioritise assisted voluntary return and reintegration.

5. Most Africans migrate within Africa. Support African countries to develop coherent migration and asylum policies at the national and regional levels.

6. Facilitate and support the contribution of migrants and the diaspora. In 2014, migrant remittances reached 583 billion – more than double the world’s development assistance.

7. Ensure that funding priorities match the needs in the region and that civil society con-tributes to the programming process of the EU Emergency Trust Fund.

8. Support citizen mobilisation to change perceptions of migrants in host countries in a bid to counter xenophobic narratives.

9. Ensure that migrants are not penalised for irregular entry or stay and that they are able to fully access their human rights and play a role as citizens in their host countries, allowing them to contribute to development in their origin countries.

10. Embrace partnerships with civil society and local authorities to develop appropriate responses and mechanisms.

Stop development aid to Eritrea

EU development aid is helping the Eritrean government exploit its own people, according to a human rights activist and advocate for Eritrean refugees.

Elsa Chyrum of Human Rights Concern Eritrea yesterday called for a stop to development aid sent to the east African country, as she feared that the funds were being pocketed by the government.

“There is no transparency and no way for the EU to monitor and supervise the funding of projects. We have credible information that people working for projects funded by the EU were forced to sign for money they did not receive,” she said, adding that conscripts and prisoners of conscience had been paid a measly 10 for a month’s worth of work.

“The EU is helping the Eritrean government exploit its own people,” she said.

Asked where the money was going, she said the funds were being dropped into the government’s coffers. “We don’t know how it is being spent but the Eritrean government is known for its involvement in all sorts of illicit business.”

Ms Chyrum was one of the protagonists in the case of the forcible deportation from Malta of some 220 Eritreans in 2002, when she advocated for a resettlement programme.

The Eritreans were repatriated amid international criticism levelled at the Maltese authorities, and in 2004 it emerged that the deportees had been arrested and brutally tortured immediately upon their return to the troubled African state. Ms Chyrum was speaking to this newspaper following an event for civil society during which Sara Tesorieri of Oxfam referred to the Trust Fund for Africa, expected to be announced during the summit.

While it would welcome the decision of the EU to use resources to address issues of poverty, inequality and conflict in Africa, Oxfam objected to the use of such funds to solely curb migration.