Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1540302
13 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 12 OCTOBER 2025 NEWS The lawyers supporting Malta's asylum seekers A young lawyer gives Karl Azzopardi insight into an NGOs fight to represent the unwanted THEY escape persecution and violence in their own countries, travel perilous jour- neys, and find themselves in Malta, where they are treated as a number. This is the reality for many asylum seek- ers who end up stuck in a lengthy and bureaucratic process in a foreign country with no resources. This is where Aditus steps in. Aditus lawyer Andrea Briffa sat down with MaltaToday in the NGO's Ħamrun office to explain how lawyers such as himself offer their services despite lan- guage, cultural, and systemic barriers. But before overcoming such barriers, he notes that his first task with such clients is more challenging, as it involves gaining the trust of immigrants who have proba- bly been exposed to great suffering, and in some cases, have no idea what a lawyer is. To explain the mindset of migrants that such lawyers encounter, Briffa recounts the story of a man from Bangladesh who had just turned 18. Abdur* had left his country seeking medical care as he could not be treated in Bangladesh. Abdur travelled to the other side of the globe where he found himself in a migrant camp run by human traffick- ers in Libya. Here he was abused by armed men and even suffered beatings before being sent out to sea on a small boat packed with other migrants. Caught in the middle of the Mediterranean, Abdur became very sick and developed a high fever, as he was very close to dying on the boat. Luckily, he was taken by helicopter to Mater Dei Hospital where he was treated. But upon regaining consciousness, Abdur was almost immediately handcuffed and taken to the Safi detention centre. It was here that Aditus stepped in. Briffa says that the first factor he must clarify is his client's age, and this is done by asking indirect questions to gauge their reactions and body language. He explains that as his lawyer, he must be empathetic towards his client, while being hawk-eyed towards the client's demeanour in order to determine whether or not he is telling the truth. The lawyer explains that he had man- aged to track down Abdur's mother in Bangladesh who provided him with a birth certificate showing that he was 18 years old. Since Abdur didn't flee his home due to persecution, he was returned to Bangladesh by the authorities. Despite his hardships, Abdur's situation was one of the more straightforward cas- es Briffa handled. He describes helping clients who, due to their prior experiences, are less likely to trust strangers in foreign places. Briffa says that while some migrants trust their lawyer, others, especially when given news that they will have to remain in de- tention, lose their composure. "The key is patience, both for the client and the lawyer," Briffa says. On immigrants in detention centres, the lawyer explains that it is his job to keep migrants who would be vulnerable in such places, out of them. Vulnerable mi- grants in detention centres include young people with mental health problems and LGBTIQ migrants, who could be prone to abuse at the hands of other migrants. People seen as numbers When it comes to migrants in detention, Briffa says that lawyers such as himself are seeing questionable practices by im- migration authorities. He explains that immigrants can only be held in detention for up to nine months. During this time, authorities must interview the immigrants to determine whether they merit asylum. However, he describes a phenomenon where authorities sometimes leave the in- terviews toward the very end of the nine- month period. This is worrying, as Briffa recounts a case of a man who had only managed to tell half of his story to the au- thorities and was told that they no longer had time to interview him because a de- cision on his asylum had to be made. His refugee status was rejected. Briffa says that this is especially the case for immigrants from certain countries such as Bangladesh and Pakistan. This, he states, is the result of a mentality that for decades has dehumanised irreg- ular migrants, as governments approach the issue with the sole aim of reducing the number of boat arrivals. This dehumanising approach leaves law- yers like Briffa having to explain official policy to their clients while dealing with the latter's expectations, fears and lack of trust. Gaining a person's trust is the hard part, especially from someone who has suffered abuse throughout a perilous journey Asylum seekers in Malta face a long and uncertain journey through bureaucracy and detention, often treated as numbers rather than people. (Photo: File photo)