Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/789855
maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 22 FEBRUARY 2017 News 10 MIRIAM DALLI THE government is set to an- nounce "new administrative de- tails" in connection with THPn (Temporary Humanitarian Pro- tection – New), a status granted to failed asylum seekers. Although it is currently sus- pended – available only to those who already have been granted the status – Home Affairs Min- ister Carmelo Abela said benefits enjoyed under the status remain active. He also said that "new admin- istrative details" will be an- nounced in the coming days, or weeks. THPn was first introduced in 2010, by means of a policy deci- sion of the then Home Affairs Ministry. This regularisation is granted in cases where these people cannot be removed from the country, but are allowed a one-year, renewable residence permit subject to documented evidence of "their integration ef- forts and employment history in Malta". There are currently around 1,300 people with THPn. While all had their asylum claims re- jected at appeal stage, they re- main in Malta because the au- thorities have not been able to return them, through no fault of their own. In many cases, this is due to the lack of diplomatic relations between Malta and the state of origin and lack of cooperation from national authorities in the migrants' state of origin. Government's notice that the THPn would be suspended left many in limbo, unsure of their future. Abela has now dispelled sug- gestions that come October 31, migrants' failure to meet new re- quirements would result in them being deported. The require- ments mean migrants need to make arrangements to procure all the required documentation from their country of origin. Hu- man rights NGOs believe that the government is imposing re- quirements which it knows the migrants will not be able to meet. "For migrants to be deported, they need legal documentation and their country of origin to ac- cept them," the minister said. He then went on to add that "new administrative details" will be announced. "Irrespective of whether it's called THPn or something else, those who today enjoy THPn will continue to enjoy the benefits that come with it. We will soon announce how things will be car- ried out." When the government late last year decided to detain a group of migrants from Mali, with plans to deport them, many of them had been in Malta for at least 10 years. The documents never came through from Mali, and three months later they were re- leased. "I can sympathise with these persons, but my sympathy alone won't lead anywhere," Abela said, asked whether there should be a cut off point for deportation or- ders. "This is a grey area that needs to be tackled on a European level," he added, of failed asylum seekers who remain in a coun- try because the authorities won't manage to deport them. "If we're working for a common European law we can't have dif- ferent countries employing dif- ferent methods. Likewise, we can't send the message that you can enter irregularly and your position will be regularised." Ghanian migrant's return process halted over unpaid court fines A 32-year-old migrant who took his own life on Saturday night had his assisted voluntary return process suspended be- cause of pending court fines. Frederick Ofosu was found strangled with an electric cable in a Qawra construction site. He reportedly left a recorded message why he killed himself: he was being forced to feel like a criminal, when he had done nothing wrong. Ofosu, who had been in Malta for eight years, did not have tem- porary protection. Abela said that the Ghanian had been re- fused THPn status three times already, and that in September 2016 he had applied for assisted voluntary return: a programme that grants returning migrants a financial support package. But the process had to be halt- ed, due to pending fines he had yet to pay on a court case dealing with a past misdemeanour. Abela has urged anyone in pos- session of the recorded message left by Ofosu, to hand it over to the police, which is investigat- ing the death in an inquiry led by Magistrate Caroline Farrugia Frendo. Party reactions The Nationalist Party called Ofosu's suicide a damning in- dictment of the failure to address the issue of those failed asylum seekers in Malta who cannot be returned to their country of ori- gin. The PN argued that the intro- duction of a level of humanitar- ian protection status was to cov- er those cases of people who fell through the cracks in existing legislation and found themselves in no-man's land – unable to be returned and unable to legally stay in Malta. "The safe return of failed asy- lum seekers must be part and parcel of any migration policy, but this must be done in a hu- mane way with full respect for people's dignity, with common sense solutions that protect those desperately in need," the PN said. "Ofosu's death must be a wake up call to all those pushing popu- list, ineffective policies in an ef- fort to use migration as an elec- toral scapegoat. It is a failure of the system that has let down the most vulnerable in our societies." The Democratic Party pointed out that Ofosu's case is not an exception, and many others went down the same path. It urged the government to come up with concrete integra- tion and inclusion plans for peo- ple who have been granted THPN status and who have become part of Maltese society. "Those people already accorded that status, should not be treated as a number or as an inconven- ience but should be given a right to residential status in our coun- try, given that they have become fully integrated and possess a clean conduct," it said. The party went on to urge the state to give citizenship to chil- dren born in Malta to migrants. Policies, it added, should address people and not numbers. The Democratic Party also sug- gested that the government sets up a lobby within international fora to redefine the term 'refu- gee', as the current definition re- f lects a post world war situation and has not been updated since then. "Refugee status should take into account current global reali- ties, so that people do not suffer injustice due to outdated poli- cies. The acquisition of refugee status should be made possible by compiling a set of criteria which ref lect today's reality with regards to the causes of human displacement. "Climate change, war and weather induced famines can cause families to f lee just as much as any other abuse of their humanity." THPn: 'New administrative details' to be announced