Existing evidence suggests that migrant women can face additional disadvantages compared with women in the native population, and minority men.
Observation and reports by NGOs and voluntary groups indicate that migrant women are at risk of the most extreme forms of poverty and social exclusion, in many if not all dimensions of life: housing conditions particularly those accommodated in detention centres, access to education, employment and working conditions, access to health care, and financial services.
Education does not seem to present a problem for girls and young women who leave detention centres to attend mainstream schooling within a few weeks of their arrival from their country of origin.
Indeed, their integration with other students is known to be relatively quick. However, it is reported that not all teachers are trained to work within a multicultural classroom, and social integration is left at the discretion of individual schools.
Malta maintains an automatic detention policy for migrants and asylum seekers who are held in closed detention centres for up to 18 months.
Pregnant and nursing women are often released from detention due to their multiple vulnerabilities. However, the European Parliament signalled that the bureaucratic procedure for release is lengthy, and women's stay in closed centres with other detainees may last for many months.
Detention centres in Malta have often come in for harsh criticism from the UNHCR, and Amnesty International voices disquiet about the policy that violates international human rights, laws and standards.
Women with refugee status, humanitarian protection, and rejected asylum seekers have access to free medical care in State hospitals and State health centres. However, access to health care services may be difficult due to linguistic and often cultural and religious barriers, lack of information and so on.
In parallel, the lack of training and experience among health service workers to address cultural and religious issues also reduces accessibility to these services, especially for migrant women.
For example, Muslim women may find it unacceptable to visit male medical doctors, and often request the assistance of female social workers when in need of health care.
Also, the practice of having uniformed personnel stand outside hospital wards and health clinics guarding migrant women as though they were criminals, tears away their dignity, and predisposes them to multiple discrimination, strengthens the stigma against them, and is counterproductive to their integration into Maltese society. Such practice needs to be addressed by the authorities as a matter of priority.
Migrants in Malta continue to face discrimination when accessing jobs, in the level and quality of work and in payment. Some NGOs signal that there is little enforcement by the State to ensure migrants are employed legally, and that the minimum conditions set out by the law are being respected.
For example, the fact that people with humanitarian protection need their employer to apply for their permits leads to a very clear temptation to cut corners, not apply for such permits, and indulge in blatant exploitation.
Access to financial services is a major problem for migrants due to insecure employment, the language problem, and scarce knowledge of the system. For example, securing a bank loan for the purchase of immovable property is highly unlikely among migrant women, especially since the law precludes third country nationals from purchasing property selling below a specified threshold.
Professional expertise on multiple discrimination is doubtful in Malta. For example, the law on the equal treatment of people does not acknowledge the complexity of ethnic minority groups.
The law does not protect against discrimination on more than one ground, and there is no special provision for women who are susceptible to multiple disadvantages when compared with men. Multiple discrimination is indivisible to policymakers, and has no remedy under Maltese law.
Malta is encouraged to act with urgency in drawing up a long-term migration policy taking into serious consideration future challenges, the fundamental rights of migrants, and especially the special needs of women.
The European Commission against Racism and Intolerance encourages Malta to step up efforts in replacing all police and military staff at the Detention Service with civilian personnel trained in human rights and non-discrimination.
Monitoring the socio-economic conditions of migrant women (and men) requires collection and analysis of quality data that is crucial for policymakers for defining strategic goals, specifying expected results, and enhancing accountability.
Malta is urged to develop consultation mechanisms and dialogue at national level between migrant women, grassroot NGOs, and public bodies involved in the integration process.
Indeed, the open method of coordination should be part of the design process of Malta's active inclusion policies to redress gender and social inequalities.
How often does the State take into account the existing realities in the lives of migrant women by listening to them and involving them in discussions pertaining to policies that concern them directly?
Dr Camilleri-Cassar is senior lecturer, Institute of Criminology, at the University of Malta.