At the end of May, Malta launched a second consultation process regarding the integration of foreign residents into Maltese society. Much emphasis was placed on the need for flexibility of approach, on mainstreaming integration and on taking everyone’s needs and experiences into account; an approach that is necessary, practical and laudable.
Unfortunately, the intent and spirit of this process and the concepts underpinning it appear to have little or no substance. It is commonplace across Maltese society to decry migrants and asylum seekers for travelling here irregularly and to imply that their presence here is, in some way, unjustified, dishonest and a drain on society.
In 2020, we reported on the journey and subsequent story of Agnes Mudembo, a Zimbabwean woman who arrived in Malta in 2017 via Kuwait. Her story read like a horror film with many twists and turns. She was shamefully exploited as a domestic and managed to escape the web of exploitation with the assistance of police and NGOs. She was granted refugee status, and over the following three years she juggled two jobs, studied at MCAST, saved enough to rent her own place and began a Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree at the University of Malta.
How can we expect Mudembo and others like her to integrate into society when we tell them they are not wanted despite their best efforts to contribute?
Mudembo applied for family reunification in 2019 and, for two years, she heard nothing. She was on the point of admitting defeat and leaving Malta to rejoin her children when, overcoming many obstacles, she was eventually reunited with her children and husband who arrived here with a work permit.
In almost any other context, her story, her bravery, her persistence and her sheer hard work would result in a positive outcome, disproving the naysayers and denying the populist myths. Sadly and unjustly, not in Malta.
Despite being given the go-ahead to settle here, despite studying, working and sustaining herself, and despite becoming qualified, Mudembo is, incredibly, not allowed to work as a staff nurse in Malta’s public health sector; And this in a context of shortages of qualified professionals.
She was informed that she did not qualify for the post, despite her refugee status and having done everything ‘by the book’, because she was not a Maltese or EU citizen or an approved third-country national. Her situation and that of others like her defies logic, justice and basic humanity. It flies in the face of Malta’s needs, its stated principles and strategies on integration and its professed values.
Mudembo’s situation highlights once again the need for urgent change in Malta’s rules relating to the ability of refugees to work in the public service, a change that many human rights lawyers and NGOs have called for over many years. They argue that allowing refugees to access public positions would send a clear message that Malta is committed to refugee integration both in word and deed.
Mudembo is a victim of the restrictive laws and policies on access to public service positions. They allow no distinction between refugees and other third-country nationals, although, in legal terms, refugees are in a special category, having been granted the right to remain in Malta as they cannot return in safety to their own country.
Despite her experience, Mudembo remains positive about Malta and its people, saying it is the only place that gave her hope and practical support. She wishes to give something back. But contrary to its stated integration policy, Malta refuses consideration of her individual circumstances and adopts a crude and inhumane exclusion policy.
The key question must be: how can we expect Mudembo and others like her to integrate into society when we tell them they are not wanted despite their best efforts to contribute?