An international conference which focussed on the Arab Spring, a year on, has expressed shock over the detention of migrants in Malta and elsewhere while acknowledging the extent of the migration problem that Malta is facing.
The conference was hosted by the Justice and Peace Commission of the Maltese Curia and grouped 40 participants from 30 European countries.
In part of its final declaration, the conference said the importance of economic justice and global solidarity was evident from the migration of large numbers of vulnerable people from other parts of Africa, through North Africa and into Europe.
The conference acknowledged the problem of migration for Malta.
"To put it in context, if we were to assess the impact of the number of migrants who arrived by sea to Malta in the first six months of this year, in relation to land area, population and GDP, it would be equivalent to the entire population of Malta migrating to Germany."
The delegates said they visited three centres for migrants – the closed centre at Hal Far, the open centre at Marsa and the open centre run by the Migrant Commission of the Maltese Church and the Good Shepherd Sisters in Balzan – as well as hearing from the Jesuit Refugee Service, the International Organisation for Migration and KOPIN (Koperazzjoni Internazzionali) about the support they provide.
"We could see first hand how the unjust distribution of resources on a global scale has reduced people to a state of such desperation that they will undertake long and perilous journeys of many years, across several countries, through deserts and conflict zones, in the hope of finally getting a place on an overcrowded and unsafe vessel to make the terrifying journey across the Mediterranean sea, a journey not all will survive.
If we were to assess the impact of the number of migrants who arrived by sea to Malta in the first six months of this year, in relation to land area, population and GDP, it would be equivalent to the entire population of Malta migrating to Germany.
"Having experienced violence, exploitation and starvation, their first experience of Europe will be detention. We saw the challenges faced by the staff of the closed centre, attempting to care for traumatised people under these conditions. We learned about the difficult process that begins when people leave the closed centre and attempt integration, with so much to learn and the threat of deportation always hanging over them. We were impressed by the efforts of staff and volunteers in these organisations to respect the dignity and promote the recovery of the people in their care with the very limited means at their disposal. At the same time, however, we were shocked to see that in our modern, developed society, people still live in such basic and over-crowded conditions.
"This is not only a Maltese problem. The vast majority of these migrants did not want to come to Malta, seeing it only as a further step on the journey towards continental Europe. Other European nations cannot allow geography to distance them from their responsibilities. Existing European legislation, notably the Dublin Regulation, which determines that asylum applications must be processed in the country of arrival, is placing an unfair burden on the Maltese and increasing the suffering of the migrants affected. Neither at the level of the EU or the UN is there any provision for a form of asylum to be granted on the basis of economic reasons, even where people are coming from situations of extreme poverty.
"Both volunteers and migrants told us that, from their experience, in Malta, as in other parts of Europe, racism and xenophobia are on the rise. Some media have made a significant contribution to this development, with talk of "invasion" and inaccurate or over-simplified accounts of what is happening in places such as North Africa. We cannot lay all the blame on media however, and need to look instead at our own willingness to adopt a critical approach to the information provided and actively challenge messages we consider to be false or unjust" the delegates said.
QUEST FOR FREEDOM
In other points, the delegates said in their declaration that the struggle against oppression in North Africa was founded on the same core values: human dignity, freedom from arbitrary violence, freedom of expression, freedom of religion, distributive justice, equal citizenship, equal access to public goods and services and national pride.
"These values need to be protected throughout the long and difficult task of constructing a new foundation for the nation. Indeed, there are already clear warning signs that, for some, hope is giving way to disappointment and frustration as progress slows down and dreams of a better future fail to materialise. A significant threat is posed by forces, both internal and external, which seek to provoke and exploit division, violence and insecurity."
"We, as Europeans, can make a positive contribution to political processes in these countries. While we may embrace our democratic systems, we cannot assume they could simply be transplanted to other national and cultural contexts. Indeed, we need to acknowledge that they are not working for all members of our society and our core values appear to be giving way to extreme individualism.
"As Europeans we need to respect the right of other nations to define democracy in accordance with their traditions and religious beliefs. At the same time, we cannot ignore the need to protect human dignity and rights," the delegates said.
They pointed out that in Caritas in Veritate, Pope Benedict argued that cultures and religions should be evaluated on the basis of what they do for the whole person and all people.
"An essential element of this process is the establishment of dialogue and interaction founded on mutual respect," the conference delegates said.