Respect for fundamental human rights was once a big and serious issue in Malta. Today, it is a fact of life and we even tend to take it for granted. That is normal. But this is not to say that there is no room for improvement or that we should not remain vigilant. For, even if our country is generally respectful of human rights, from time to time, we are exposed to new developments and new experiences that may find us wanting.
The European Union has its own agency which is responsible for overviewing respect for human rights in EU countries. It is known as the European Union Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA) and is based in Vienna.
The FRA publishes annual reports on the state of human rights in the EU. When its annual report for 2009 was published in June, I could not help checking how Malta fares and where, if at all, we lag behind.
As it happens, the report does not throw up major surprises because anyone who follows the news can get more than an inkling of what human rights issues come up from time to time in our country. But it is nevertheless good to test oneself against the gauge of European standards because this type of public scrutiny urges us to press on to make the grade.
To my mind, there are two main “problem areas” the report highlights in relation to Malta (as the report focuses on last year, some of the issues have been addressed or have simply been overtaken by events).
Firstly and unsurprisingly, concerns are raised in the area of asylum, immigration and integration of migrants.
The report refers to the criticism made last year on conditions in detention centres in Malta by Médecins Sans Frontières, which has a presence here, and by the UN Working Group on arbitrary detention following a visit. Ever since, the situation in detention centres has improved markedly if only because, with arrivals having virtually stopped, they are now almost empty.
Nevertheless, the report also refers to the fear from racism experienced by migrants in Malta. It quotes a survey published last year, which established that about one- third of Africans in Malta considered themselves to be victims of racially-motivated assaults, threats or serious harassment.
The report does praise Malta for having taken measures to give effect to an EU law to combat certain forms and expressions of racism and xenophobia by means of criminal law. However, from where I stand, it is not clear how well this law is being implemented. Even more worryingly, Malta was singled out with regard to the exploitation of migrant workers. The report points, in particular, to cases of extremely long working hours endured by migrants, unhealthy conditions at work, being paid less or not at all and being denied sick leave.
It adds that “in other cases workers have had their passports confiscated and been confined in their sub-standard accommodation without freedom to leave, or have had the cost of their meagre accommodation and food deducted from their wages”.
The General Workers’ Union is to be commended for having often expressed serious concerns on these poor working conditions and I hope it can keep up the pressure.
A second problem area highlighted in the report is equality, where it says that Malta’s national competent authority that deals with racial equality lacks adequate human and financial resources and had effectively dealt with too few cases to allow a proper study. This is a pity because public authorities cannot deliver if they are starved of resources.
As for the encouraging developments in Malta, I would say that there are three areas worth highlighting. Firstly, that according to a public opinion survey published last year, Malta comes first in the EU – with 40 per cent – in terms of citizens’ awareness about their rights on non-discrimination and harassment.
Secondly, that textbooks in Maltese schools appear to be regularly checked on non-discriminatory contents, including on the representation of minorities.
Thirdly, that in the educational sector, Malta is adopting good practices on human rights issues, such as teacher training and awareness raising projects.
It is highly commendable that the education authorities take initiatives to promote a better understanding and a culture of respect of fundamental human rights among students at schools.
All in all, the report does not paint a bleak picture of Malta’s human rights record. However, it does reveal shortcomings when it comes to our respect for the human rights of migrants in particular.
The moral of the story is clear: we have made significant progress in respecting our own human rights but we are still reluctant to do the same with foreigners.
Yet, we are all human after all.
The FRA annual report can be viewed at http://fra.europa.eu/fraWeb-site/attachments/AR_2010-conf-edition_en.pdf .
www.simonbusuttil.eu
Dr Busuttil is a Nationalist member of the European Parliament.