“I wish no one faces what I face or feels what I feel,” a migrant living in Malta says in a new documentary released by the Jesuit Refugee Service yesterday.
The documentary, called Suspended Lives, interviews migrants who made the perilous trip from Africa and now live in Malta. It brings out their insights into a reality most Maltese are not aware of.
Most of these people fled their country out of fear and the agreement between JRS and the interviewees was that the documentary would only be shown at screenings, and not online or on DVDs, to prevent identification. “The documentary does not discuss law or policy and it is not meant to be political or controversial but simply to reveal the realities, hopes, fears and hardships asylum seekers face every day,” Roberta Buhagiar, from JRS said.
Speaking at the launch, JRS director Fr Joe Cassar said migrants also experienced serious mental health problems, brought about by the ordeal of crossing the Sahara desert and the dangerous Mediterranean crossing.
Suspended Lives was initially intended to supplement a pilot study on migrant destitution by the Advocacy Network for Destitute Forced Migrants, issued in March last year. One of the conclusions of the study was that even though national law provided that, beneficiaries of subsidiary protection shall enjoy “core social welfare benefits” and “core state medical care”, it was not clear what these are made up of and, as a result of lack of precise legislation, what migrants got depended on policy, not legislation.
While a Maltese household with only one member eligible for social assistance receives €12.53 a day, which is meant to be the minimum financial support required for survival, beneficiaries of subsidiary protection got €4.66, two realities JRS found difficult to reconcile.
The study recommends a clearer set of criteria for termination and readmission into open centres, incentives to move out of open centres, more effective access to medical care and education, among other things.
The first screening, being held tomorrow at St James Cavalier, in Valletta, is already fully booked and JRS will soon announce other dates. The organisation is also planning to include the hour-long feature into its school outreach programmes.
Those interested in watching the documentary, rated PG, are requested to e-mail suspendedlives@jrsmalta.org. Entrance is free but donations are welcome.