Updated 4pm 

The Ethiopian nationals who are being detained and facing deportation after having lived and worked legally in Malta for years should be released immediately, the Migrants Commission, the Justice and Peace Commission and JRS Malta urged the authorities.

The two commissions, which form part of the Archdiocese of Malta, and JRS Malta issued a joint statement in which they “wholeheartedly condemned” the recent arrest of several Ethiopian nationals, who were rounded up, detained and told they would be sent back to Ethiopia.

They called on all Members of Parliament, especially the Social Affairs Committee, to convene and discuss this matter with urgency so that, in collaboration with civil society organisations, they could find a solution that respected individual rights and safeguarded every member of our society.

In a separate call, 38 civil society organisations urged the government to regularise the position of people whom it had allowed to make Malta their home. 

Last week Times of Malta reported how the Ethiopian community is “in shock” and “living in fear” as a number of people who have been living and working legally in Malta for up to 19 years, were being arrested at their place of work.

At least five were arrested and sent to detention and told they would be sent back to Ethiopia. 

They were told that their application for refugee status had been rejected. Until now, they had temporary protection status and had a yellow book that allowed them to work legally. Some even had their own businesses and started a family.

The children’s commissioner has urged the government and its authorities to exercise caution when considering the deportation of migrant children and their families.

Lawyers who work with migrants said that, whenever people of a particular nationality are rounded up, it typically means that a delegation from that country is on the way to Malta.

The delegation would typically include government officials who would facilitate deportation by providing travel documents after verifying the origin of the people in detention.

The Home Affairs Ministry said persons arriving in Malta irregularly who do not qualify for international protection are offered a voluntary return package.

“If they refuse the voluntary return scheme, are then subject to forced return, depending on the level of cooperation by the country of origin. The Ethiopian nationals you are referring to have been detained in order to safeguard their return to Ethiopia, following positive signals from the Ethiopian authorities related to cooperation on the safe readmission of their own nationals,” the ministry said, adding that this course of action follows a decision at EU level to step up readmission efforts with Ethiopia following an assessment carried out by the European Commission.

Treated like criminals

But many criticised the method used. Katrine Camilleri, from JRS Malta, said: "Picking up people from their homes and workplaces, or from the streets, without notice, and locking them up, often for weeks, until they can meet a visiting delegation who will interview them, determine whether they are nationals, and decide whether to issue the documents required to send them back, is a horribly painful and humiliating process for the people involved.”

A detained migrant calling for freedom from detention during a 2019 protest. Photo: Chris Sant Fournier

She said that these people have not committed any crime - on the contrary many worked legally and paid tax and social security contributions.

“They are treated like criminals, handcuffed every time they need to leave the facility where they are being held, and deprived of all control over their lives. Even if they are not sent back, they risk losing their job, or having their rent contract revoked, because they cannot work or pay rent while they are in detention. If they are sent, they are deprived of the opportunity to sort out their affairs with dignity, because it is impossible to do that from the confines of a detention centre…

"Given the harm that detention causes, and the inherent harshness and violence of this course of action, even where it is in accordance with the law, it is impossible not to ask whether there is a more humane way of dealing with people, using deprivation of liberty only as a measure of last resort where there is truly no other option,” she said.

Find a more humane way

In the joint statement, the Church in Malta urged the authorities to create realistic pathways to regularisation for these Ethiopians and other individuals. 

“We consider these recent actions to be unjust, indiscriminate and cruel and call upon the government to immediately release these individuals and to regularise their position,” the entities said.

The three entities said these Ethiopians were being targeted under the pretext of having come to Malta irregularly to seek asylum, which at the time was not granted. Despite this, most spent years living and working with the knowledge and authorisation of the authorities, who granted them employment licences, and residence permits.  

A migrant in a detention centre some years back. Photo: Darrin Zammit Lupi

Over the years they have contributed to society and become an integral part of the community, paying their taxes and social solidarity contributions.

“They are valued and trained employees, whose experience will be hard to replace. They are our neighbours, our colleagues, our friends, the people who greet us in the street, who care for our elderly relatives, and cleaned our hospital wards during the COVID-19 pandemic,” the entities said.

These incidents are the latest in a series of raids, which saw the lives of tens of migrants who had made Malta their home upended without warning and locked up so that preparations could be made to send them to their country of origin, they said.

Beyond the impact such actions had on these persons, it created a climate of fear and insecurity for members of society who over the past years contributed to everyone’s well-being.

"These actions are constant reminders by the State of how easily it can arbitrarily and indiscriminately trample over all the accomplishments these members of society achieved through their hard work and sacrifices," they said.

'Regularise position of people you allowed to make Malta home'

In a statement on Thursday afternoon, 38 civil society groups, university faculties and writers urged the government to regularise people whom the government allowed to make Malta their home.

"The five arrested men have had their lives uprooted without any warning. They were forced to leave their jobs, homes, friendships, and belongings behind.

"Within minutes, their lives were rewound as they were taken away to the same place where they had first encountered Malta so many years ago: a detention centre. There, procedures are underway to send them back to a country they barely know, where their support system may be non-existent, and where they may be at risk of harm."

This has had a "devastating impact" not only on the arrested people but on whole communities, including neighbours, colleagues, partners, schoolmates and friends.

"They are one of us and Malta is also their home. We appeal to the government to create a pathway to regularisation for these and other rejected asylum-seekers who have lived and worked in Malta for years with the authorisation of the competent authorities."

They said something similar had been done in other EU states.

They urged the government to release the Ethiopian detainees, and people of good will to stand against the inhumane practice of rounding up people who have built their lives here and have become, in more ways than one, part of who we are.

The 38 organisations are aditus foundation, African Media Association (Malta), Blue Door Education, Caritas Malta, Chaplain of Corradino Correctional Facility, Chaplains of Mater Dei Hospital and of SAMOC, Christian Life Community (CLC) – Malta, Dar Hosea, Department of Disability Studies - University of Malta, Department of Social Policy and Social Work - University of Malta, Department of Youth, Community and Migration Studies - University of Malta, Djar tal-Knisja għall-Anzjani, Drachma LGBTI+ Parents, Fondazzjoni St Jeanne Antide, Fondazzjoni Suret il-Bniedem, Humanists Malta, Jesuit Refugee Service (Malta), KOPIN, Kummissjoni Ġustizzja u Paċi, Arċidjoċesi ta’ Malta, Men Against Violence, MGRM (Malta LGBTIQ Rights Movement), Migrants Commission, Migrant Women Association Malta, Migrant Offshore Aid Station (MOAS), Millenium Chapel, Moviment Graffitti, Faculty of Education - University of Malta, Faculty of Social Wellbeing - University of Malta, Paulo Freire Institute Foundation, PEN Malta, Repubblika, Segretarjat Assistenza Socjali - Azzjoni Kattolika Maltija, SOS Malta, Spark15, Sudanese Community Malta, Victim Support Malta, Women’s Rights Foundation and the Youth Alive Foundation.