Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1098850
4 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 31 MARCH 2019 CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Reports of people sleeping on the rough on benches is not a reflection of any dramatic in- crease in rooflessness, accord- ing to Caritas Director Antho- ny Gatt. Caritas runs two homes in Birkirkara, the Dar Papa Frang- isku and Dar Maria Dolores in partnership with government and the Alfred Mizzi Founda- tion, which together can ac- commodate 30 people. "We only refused people on four nights in 2018 because of lack of space." But according to the Caritas director, homelessness is in- creasing due to a variety of fac- tors, including affordability and rising rents. "Unlike roofless people, homeless people find temporary shelter by relying on the support network of rela- tives or friends but still lack the security of home." As regards roofless people, the majority of women in this situ- ation are Maltese (80%) while among men the majority (70%) are foreigners. "A particularly vulnerable category are immi- grants from Italy who overstay their three-month permit to stay in Malta. Other vulner- able categories are victims of domestic abuse and people passing through marital sepa- ration," Gatt said. Gatt said rooflessness is also connected to other social prob- lems like mental health and ad- dictions. He referred to cases where Caritas collaborated with the authorities to provide accommodation to people ap- prehended by the police for being in breach of existing leg- islation dating back to British times, which criminalises living "a vagrant and idle life." "Very few people in Malta choose vagrancy as a lifestyle," Gatt, who disagrees with legis- lation which criminalises peo- ple sleeping rough, said. "While I understand that the authorities are concerned with public order, this is a social problem which is everybody's problem. Criminalising these people does not improve their situation and risks increasing the stigma." Gatt acknowledged that in the past he received a few com- plaints about people offered shelter in the Caritas homes at night, who were spending their day in gardens. But in general there were no prob- lems with neighbouring resi- dents. Neither was he aware of a widespread problem of peo- ple sleeping on benches in the locality. Birkirkara is now the third locality in Malta to criminalise loitering within the entirety of its boundaries, after Marsa and Hamrun. In these by-laws, loi- tering is defined as "the persis- tent presence of any person for no apparent reason." Anyone found loitering in any road in Birkirkara, is liable to a fine of €65 and to a further fine not exceeding €15 for every day during which one of the provi- sions of the by-law is breached. Marsa was the first locality to introduce a law against loiter- ing in June 2018. A similar by- law was approved by the Ham- run council in September. Human rights organisation Aditus had criticised the intro- duction of these laws, which they said overlook underlying social problems like "social ex- clusion, poverty, unemploy- ment, exploitation, mental health problems and disability issues". "Without addressing the root causes of vagrancy and loitering, we would be doing an injustice to people who need support," director Neil Falzon told Maltatoday. Falzon had called on the National Commission for the Promotion of Equality, the Office of the Ombudsman and the Ministry for Equality to assess the compatibility of anti-loitering by-laws with the Constitution and equality leg- islation". Anti-loitering laws in Malta and beyond In 2006 Pietà became the first council to ban loitering in a specific area "in and around St Luke Square" in a move di- rected against drug addicts who used to hang around the area to collect their dose of methadone from a public health facility located in the same square. The by-laws set a model for similar by-laws introduced in other localities by defining "loitering" as "the persistent presence of any person for no apparent reason". But the by-laws also excluded "persons who are carrying out a duty in St Luke Square, Pietà, or in the vicinity thereof". A by-law introduced in Ta' Xbiex in 2007, this time aimed at clamping down on prostitu- tion in the locality, used the same definition of loitering as that included in the Pietà legis- lation. The by-laws also exclud- ed "persons who are carrying out a duty in the specific streets in Ta' Xbiex". The law singled out seven streets, which at the time were associated with pros- titution. Unlike Ta' Xbiex and Pietà, the new by-laws for Marsa, Ham- run and Birkirkara are not lim- ited to specific streets but apply to the whole locality. Hamrun mayor Christian Sammut had justified the by-laws by refer- ring to the "fear" in his locality from foreign vagrants. "People are afraid… There are people begging, others get drunk and sleep in public spaces… and there have been fights". While the law is aimed at both Mal- tese and foreigners, "the ma- jority of these abuses are com- mitted by foreigners," Sammut had told MaltaToday after the by-law was introduced. The Criminal Code states that it is illegal "in any public place for any person to beg alms." By-laws introduced by local councils go a step further from laws which already criminalise vagrancy and begging in Malta. Other European countries like Belgium, Finland and Sweden have removed anti-vagrancy laws from their statutes. jdebono@mediatoday.com.mt NEWS Loitering law punishes roofless people "Criminalising these people does not improve their situation and risks increasing the stigma" Caritas director Anthony Gatt disagrees with legislation which criminalises people sleeping rough