Migration and asylum in Malta and the European Union : rights and realities

In 2002 Malta, a small island state in the Mediterranean, witnessed a sudden increase in the arrivals of irregular immigrants. The vast majority of migrants arrived by boat from Libya and almost all were directed towards Italy (mainland Europe). The immigrants originate from 47 different countries. In tandem with this social development, Malta was severely reproached by authoritative human rights organisations for not meeting its obligations to safeguard the human rights of the irregular immigrants. This widespread criticism, which resonates with similar situations in Europe, stands in contrast to the relatively good, almost untainted, reputation of respect to human rights that Malta had so far enjoyed. The migrationist Russell King, using the case study of Malta, shows that in the contemporary era characterised by globalisation and increased mobility, small islands have a particularly uneasy relationship with migration- "being good at emigration... but bad at coping with new immigration". This echoes the notion of ambivalence which the anthropologist Jon Mitchell aptly observed in Maltese political culture following a period of fieldwork in the late 1990s. Understandably Malta faced with such an unpredicted increase of irregular migrants needed time to set up a proper migration management system. This Chapter looks at these attempts from the point of view of human rights.peer-reviewe

'Less than human': the detention of irregular immigrants in Malta

The treatment of irregular migrants in Malta is problematic from a human rights perspective, for it contravenes the principle of universalism that is intrinsic to human rights philosophy. Malta is unusual among states in that it imposes mandatory detention on such migrants, including asylum seekers. Based on a reading of foundational documents of the modern human rights movement, especially the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the article argues that the principle of human dignity underlies the concept of human rights, but that the bypassing of this principle enables the Maltese government to continue its detention policies while claiming to uphold human rights. It is an approach contested by NGOs in this area, which point to the dehumanising effects of detention on migrants. It is not just the appalling conditions in which migrants are held that renders their lives miserable, but the dehumanisation produced by detention itself.peer-reviewe

In search of the building blocks of a human rights culture: lessons from the treatment of irregular immigrants in Malta

The treatment of irregular migrants in Malta is problematic from a human rights perspective, for it contravenes the principle of universalism that is intrinsic to human rights philosophy. This study investigates this treatment. Crucially, it identifies four elements of political practice in the absence of which it is contended a human rights culture cannot flourish, as well as underlying patterns in Maltese political culture which contravene these four elements. Its ultimate aim is to propose meaningful, effective and long-lasting human-rights-compliant solutions to the treatment of irregular immigrants in Malta. Based on a reading of foundational documents of the modern human rights movement, especially the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the thesis posits that human rights should be ‘located’ between the political and the cultural. The four basic principles of human rights identified as framing the optimal political conditions for the nurturing of a human rights culture are related to dignity, a cosmopolitan orientation, democratic practice and a commitment to equality. This concept of a human rights culture is innovatively used as an analytical tool for examining Maltese responses to irregular migration. This is done in a two-way manner, with the examination of practice enriching the identified theoretical framework, and the theoretical framework then guiding the search for possible new human-rights-consistent policy directions which Malta could take. Drawing on a range of ethnographic methods, including in-depth interviews and participant observation, this study brings to light the difficulties of putting into practice human rights principles within an already established local culture grappling with its own ghosts like occupations and colonial experiences. Although resistance to change is often difficult to identify since it is shrouded in ‘modern’ language, hidden under security arguments or bureaucratic explanations. Interviews and a range of documents illustrate the multi-layered misconceptions, stereotypes and fear that play out among the Maltese

Narrating the humanitarian border : moral deliberations of territorial borderworkers on the EU’s Mediterranean border

The European Union’s external border regime in the Mediterranean is the classic ‘humanitarian border’. It is presented and performed as a humanitarian and caring enterprise, but conceals strong elements of exclusionary border control. Important actors in its daily social construction are territorial borderworkers who are tasked with the implementation of the laws and policies underpinning the humanitarian border. Their narratives are passionate and articulated using emotive language and expressions denoting an intensity of personal feelings, while the moral framing of the issues indicates a moral discomfort. Drawing on multi-sited and long-term ethnographic fieldwork in Lampedusa and Sicily, situated on the external Mediterranean border of the European Union, this article explores the key themes and form of the personal narratives of territorial borderworkers who discuss border processes and deliberate their own roles within it. Their narratives reveal insights about their worldview, and add empirical depth to our understanding of the humanitarian border and the enterprise of constructing it.peer-reviewe

Access to electoral rights : Malta

Since gaining independence from the British Empire in 1964, Malta has had a very restrictive voting policy. Voter enfranchisement is based on three pillars: citizenship, residence and age. The only exceptions to this rule, introduced in 2004 as a result of EU accession, are the electoral rights granted to EU citizens at local and European Parliament elections. Prior to this, British citizens resident in Malta had already been granted Local Council electoral rights in 1993, when Local Council elections started being held. This latter ‘exception’ can be attributed to the strong ties between the two countries due to the historical colonial relationship, and by the mere fact that the British expat community is the largest foreign group in Malta. Voting is deeply entrenched in Maltese political culture. An indication of this lies in the consistently high voter turnout at national elections – 96 per cent in 2003 and 93 per cent in 2008. This is the highest for non-mandatory elections worldwide, often superseding even countries where voting is mandatory. The political scientist William Hirzy attributes this high voter turnout to the intense competition between the two main political parties, and the results are always very close; the national elections in 2008 were the closest, won by a mere 1,600 votes. Indeed, elections are preceded by aggressive campaigns, fraught with a confrontational style of electioneering. Loyalties to the two main political parties are ‘strong, stable and rooted in social and family backgrounds.’ This signifies, and is a result of, what the European studies scholar Michelle Cini has described as the ‘extremely high stakes at general elections.’ Interestingly, in spite of the fact that Malta uses a version of the Single Transferable Vote (STV) system which allows voters to cross party lists when selecting their candidates, in practice voters tend to vote per party. This shows the paramount importance of party allegiance for the Maltese. With such a deeply pervasive political culture, it is positively. The electoral rights of foreigners, in general, have not been a major topic of discussion in Maltese politics and society. Indeed, the question of enfranchising foreigners is rarely critically addressed by Maltese politicians, major institutions or Maltese society. Alternatives to the present system are hardly ever mentioned, except in some cases by ‘Alternattiva Demokratika’, the Green Party, a very small party which has only had limited success in a few Local Council elections. Even EU citizens, who have been enfranchised in Local Council and European Parliament elections since 2004, did not managed to stir a significant debate when they encountered difficulties in accessing their electoral rights. This demonstrates the inflexibility towards new alternatives and the reluctance to consider foreign voters on an equal par with Maltese voters. The paucity of debates in this field is interrupted, albeit on a minor scale, by two issues: the question of in-country voting together with the public expense of subsidising flights for eligible voters abroad, and the incident when around 19,000 EU resident citizens (constituting the vast majority) were struck off the Electoral Register in the 2009 EP elections. The first issue is a long-standing debate on the current and exclusive policy of in-country voting. This is a discussion which flares up around each election and is specifically prompted by the practice of the last two decades of offering subsidised flights to Maltese citizens resident in Malta but temporarily abroad. This practice is almost perceived as an entitlement or a right by many who feel that it ensures their access to the right to vote. It is, however, a costly practice when one takes into consideration the increasing number of Maltese people abroad and the newfound difficulty of proving that the minimum residence requirement has been met since Malta acceded to the EU and the Schengen area. In addition, one could also argue that the residency requirement is out-dated in the context of EU membership since it clashes with freedom of movement which is one of the fundamental pillars of the EU. The second issue which has arisen over the last years has to do with EU resident citizens’ access to electoral rights in Malta. This had to do with the implementation of EU law and apparently procedural issues. EU resident citizens complain of discriminatory practices, that they were struck off the Electoral Register, and were therefore unable to vote in European Parliament elections. This issue has been championed by the Green Party, the smallest and ‘youngest’ party which has never managed to elect representatives in Parliament. The fact that this issue, and other issues regarding foreigners in Malta, are championed by the Green Party, and not generally by the main parties, is significant in itself and is to no small degree motivated by a vested interest in bringing about change to the traditional political culture.Research for the EUDO Citizenship Observatory Country Reports has been jointly supported, at various times, by the European Commission grant agreements JLS/2007/IP/CA/009 EUCITAC and HOME/2010/EIFX/CA/1774 ACIT, by the European Parliament and by the British Academy Research Project CITMODES (both projects co-directed by the EUI and the University of Edinburgh). The financial support from these projects is gratefully acknowledged.peer-reviewe

Humane and dignified? Migrants' experiences of living a "state of deportability" in Sweden

By analysing migrant experiences of living in Sweden under the threat of deportation, this book contributes to our understanding of the effects of deportation, or forced return, on people. Migrants at risk of deportation are a varied and disparate group, with singularly different stories. Within their different stories, often painful to listen to, there arise common and strong narratives. These narratives, the outcome of qualitative research with migrants, are the focus of this volume. An overview of key policies, legislations and institutions at the Swedish and EU levels is provided to contextualise the data and conclusions. What can we learn from these migrant experiences of the Swedish forced returns system, a system which has been both highly commended in some areas while critiqued in others? Deportation is increasingly being discussed from a social and global justice point of view, as well as from a human rights point of view. It is therefore of critical importance that migrant voices are heard and their experiences analysed. The 2009 European Return Directive, transposed into Swedish law in 2012, states that deportation and pre-removal detention should be conducted with respect to fundamental human rights, or in other words, in a ‘humane and dignified’ manner. But what is a ‘humane and dignified’ deportation? Is it an oxymoron in itself? This book does not claim to answer this question, but merely contributes to the debate through an analysis of migrant narratives. The afterword by UNHCR Nansen Award winner Dr. Katrine Camilleri reflects on the results of the study by juxtaposing it with her own work in Malta and primes a wider discussion of the topic by putting the Swedish case in the broader context of European Union trends.peer-reviewe

Criminalizing solidarity: search and rescue in a neo-colonial sea

Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) rescued over 110,000 people in the Central Mediterranean Sea between 2015 and 2017. From 2017, EU member states and agencies increasingly criminalized these organizations, accusing them of ‘colluding with smugglers’ and acting as a pull factor. In this climate, as Italy, Malta and the EU increased cooperation with Libya to stop people from taking to the seas, many suspended their operations. This article explores the search and rescue efforts of NGOs in the Central Mediterranean Sea between 2014 and 2018. We examine the criminalization of this NGO activity and argue that it is made possible through an oscillating neo-colonial imagination of the sea as mare nostrum and mare nullius, our sea and nobody’s sea, respectively. We build on the work of other scholars who have pointed to the activation of the Mediterranean as ‘empty’ in response to migration flows, erasing the historical connections of colonialism, empire, trade, and exchange in the Mediterranean as well as the contemporary legal geographies that govern the space. Here, we go further to develop the idea of a neo-colonial sea, which is alternately imagined as empty and ‘European’. We explore how NGOs disrupt these depictions, as well as the disappearing figures of the migrant and refugee amidst the contestations between NGOs and states

Transgressive solidarity: from Europe’s cities to the Mediterranean

In the wake of increasing migrant deaths in the Mediterranean, non-governmental organizations took to the seas to conduct search and rescue operations in 2014. In 2016, this humanitarian fleet rescued 50,000 people in the Central Mediterranean Sea. In the meantime, local solidarity initiatives emerged across Europe, motivated by the arrival of many people in their cities and by deaths and border spectacles in the Mediterranean. Juxtaposing solidarity work in the Mediterranean Sea with solidarity work within the European Union’s borders, we examine how the spaces they operate in shape the possibilities and limits of solidarity activism. Despite identifying important differences, we ultimately demonstrate how the solidarity work within Europe and in the Mediterranean Sea fold into each other in complex ways. Moreover, we show how across Europe, people engage in transgressive solidarity work that challenges EU border practices and concomitant categories to reimagine a more welcoming Europe

Naturalisations procedures for immigrants : Malta

The Maltese legal regime conferring and regulating citizenship came into being when Malta became an independent state in 1964. This consists of Chapter III of the Constitution of Malta and Chapter 188 of the Laws of Malta, the Matese Citizenship Act. Substantial changes were introduced in reforms in 1989, 2000 and 2007 which brought about a radical change of policy regarding citizenship. These changes, however, were limited to the acquisition of citizenship by registration – primarily through descent and marriage - whereas citizenship by naturalisation remained virtually unchanged. The acquisition of citizenship by naturalisation in Malta is overshadowed by the singular non-reviewable discretion that the Minister enjoys in the decision of each case. The Maltese Citizenship Act lays out general requirements that the applicants need to meet to be eligible for citizenship by naturalisation. The general requirements are rather broad and vague, and in practice there is no systematic assessment of their fulfilment like language tests, and so on. These requirements guarantee eligibility but are non-binding on the Ministerial decision. In practice therefore each case is dealt with on its own merits.peer-reviewe