The prime minister was fuelling stereotypes with discourse reminiscent of apartheid-style politics when referring to the migration issue, Repubblika said on Friday.

The civil society group made a 17-point proposal in direct response to government efforts to combat racism and promote integration.

Saying it agreed with the sentiment expressed by the government’s recent national action plan against racism and xenophobia (NAPRAX), Repubblika called for “concrete and decisive action” that directly addresses these issues.

President Robert Aquilina noted that the government’s actions reflect an altogether different approach from what was being discussed in this document.

“This document that was presented for public consultation contains principles that we completely agree with. However, these are diametrically opposed to the Maltese government’s behaviour in March and April this year,” Aquilina said.

This was in reference to when the government closed down the ports citing a national emergency and housing migrants seeking to enter Malta on ships outside Maltese waters.

Repubblika’s main proposals focus on halting cooperation with authorities in Libya that “arranges for the unlawful detention, torture, enslavement, exploitation and rape of migrants,” the phasing-out of migrants being held in detention centres in “appalling conditions” and an increase in integration efforts in schools.

The group calls for legal aid to be provided to migrants directly, the end of offshore detention strategies that deprive migrants of access to basic rights and the further opening of civil rights and liberties for long-term, non-Maltese residents.

The NGO said it agreed with the government’s ideas to promote social housing and integration policies that “respect cultural or individual distinctiveness”.

However, it also called for the end of political parties’ use of “hate speech” that is “often incited by careful discourse made by politicians who understand the limits of the law and skirt very close to them.”

The NAPRAX consultation document highlights 11 public sectors that require attention, including research, the possibility for migrants to participate in civic life through citizenship and voting and providing opportunities for education, housing and employment.

Systematic failures in AFM, government approaches

Speaking outside Auberge d’Aragon, Aquilina said Repubblika wished to discuss systemic failures in the Armed Forces of Malta and the government’s approaches.

“We were shocked at the policies implemented by the government during March and April 2020 when it held back rescuers from reaching migrants at sea during an operation under the responsibility of the Maltese rescue and coordination centre,” he said.

Aquilina also issued strong criticism against the government’s decisions to engage agents such as Neville Gafà to coordinate illegal push-backs to Libya.

“We know for a fact that these people who were sent back to Libya were sent back to inhumane detention centres,” he added.

In the consultation, parliamentary secretary for equality and reforms Rosianne Cutajar acknowledged the existence of institutionalised racism as well as the rise of far-right politics across the world.

One of the main focal points of the document is to gather feedback from respondents to learn more of racial harassment in the country.

Government rendering hate speech unit ineffective

NAPRAX points out that 87% of respondents to a 2016 survey did not actually report hate speech. Repubblika accused the government of wilfully neglecting the hate speech unit and rendering it ineffective in fulfilling its mandate.

File photo

The document also highlighted how about 20% of respondents in a 2016 FRA survey reported experiencing direct instances of racist harassment and a reference to the “racially-motivated murder of Lassana Cisse Souleymane just over a year ago,” saying it was “a tragic reminder of the consequences of indifference to hate speech and racism in Maltese society”.

Repubblika accused the government of being completely inactive in the pursuit of justice for Souleymane’s murder, saying that “the government laid flowers where Mr Souleymane last drew breath, but the matter stopped there”.

It challenged what it described as the government’s selective approach towards migration, particularly referring to Robert Abela’s hardline stance that “Malta is full-up”.

“With its approach, the government has fanned the flames of hate speech, racism and disregard for fundamental human rights such as the obligation to save lives at sea.

“It is even worse when one considers that Abela clarified the statement about Malta being full-up by saying he was referring to illegal migrants coming from Africa, and not their European counterparts.

“This is the kind of discourse that reminds us of apartheid-style policies,” Aquilina said.

He also insisted that the government should follow other EU states by “taking direct actions like abolishing parties that belong to the far-right”.

He added that not doing so risks a situation in which intolerant parties will override any goodwill that there might be in the context of a democratic vote.