President Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca yesterday met migrant-led organisations to mark World Refugee Day. During the meeting, organised by the President’s Foundation for the Wellbeing of Society, NGOs spoke about what contributed towards the well-being of the migrant population.
NGOs attending the meeting included the Migrant Network for Equality, Migrant Women Association, Ethiopian Community Association of Malta, Malta Migrants Association, African Media Association, Habesha Community and the Oromo Group.
Expressing their concerns, the NGOs mentioned the negative effect of the press when incorrectly reporting incidents related to migrants as “illegal migrants”.
Other issues raised included the lack of access to visiting people in detention, the rights of children whose parents have had their refugee status rejected, access to healthcare, the absence of a long-term plan for asylum seekers and support for all migrant associations.
According to the UNHCR the number of people forcibly displaced at the end of 2014 had risen to a staggering 59.5 million when compared to 51.2 million a year earlier and 37.5 million a decade ago.