Marsa Open Centre cannot and must not become a miniature alternative society for the immigrant community, Home Affairs Minister Carmelo Mifsud Bonnici said today.
Speaking at a conference “Providing Better Quality of Life to Residents of Marsa Open Centre”, organised by the Foundation for Shelter and Support to Migrants he said that while increasing and further investing in the ‘quality of life’ aspect of things to provide safe and dignified living conditions and services, open centres now faced the challenge of assisting residents move on to the next step at the earliest possible opportunity.
“It is in this light that sometimes difficult decisions, that are not always immediately and easily understood, have been taken and will continue to be taken in order to ensure that persons do not ‘get stuck’ in Marsa for years on end.
“This is a reception, open centre intended to act as a temporary solution, not a permanent one.
“Permanence reduces mobility, the faith to integrate, settle and become part of a different society, be it in Europe, the United States or elsewhere,” he said.
The minister said that, in this context, the Agency for the Welfare of Asylum Seekers (AWAS) has been and will continue to be in dialogue with key stakeholders to explain the need for alternative thinking with regard to the role of open centres in the management of irregular migration – to shift from ‘getting stuck’ to ‘moving on’.
“Once the basic needs of a resident are seen to and assured, we need to know from the resident himself what are his plans, aspirations and targets for the future and direct better these legitimate concerns.
“These would be assessed together with centre staff and other competent authorities and professionals.
“Timeframes need to be established and a care plan should be drawn up where needed.”
The minister said that the government was looking at the provision of better and more intensive services which would span a shorter period of time, but which would be far more
effective in helping migrants find their feet, give them direction and establish their future.
Residents at Marsa can now benefit from the services of another European Refugee Fund project -the Employment Support Initiative, spearhead by AWAS, partnered by ETC and the Foundation for Shelter and Support to Migrants.
AWAS would soon introduce further language learning options besides those offered by mainstream services, by the Marsa Open Centre itself, as well as by several non-governmental organisations.
Cultural orientation was also being offered by the International Organisation for Migration, within the framework of the Sparklet project.
Furthermore, AWAS was planning to focus on a project next year to design cultural orientation sessions in a structured way.
The strategy was to open up different options and to involve as many mainstream partners as possible and also as required.
This did not mean removing relocation programmes from the picture as Malta’s limitations would not go away.