Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/764316
14 AS Josef Stalin once notoriously remarked, "The death of one man is a tragedy. The death of millions is a statistic." In Malta, statistics of that nature tend to run into the 'thousands' rather than 'millions'... but as the re- cent death of a homeless man from Somalia also illustrated, such statis- tics – even if proportionally much smaller – can also prove tragic when viewed from an individual perspec- tive. Haji, the 45-year-old man whose lifeless body was retrieved from under a Marsa bridge, gave both a name and a personal identity to a phenomenon that is otherwise as faceless and impersonal as the fig- ures cited by Stalin. Ahmed Bugre knew him personally: as we meet for this interview, he is finalising prepa- rations for the funeral, to be held the following day (Friday). Yet Haji was also but one of thou- sands of individuals caught up in similar circumstances. Various terms have been concocted to refer to these people: migrants, asylum seekers, 'klandestini', and so forth. All seem to have the same effect as 'statistics'... the reality of the situa- tion is at once depersonalised, and reduced to a vague, shadowy catego- ry that defies any form of empathy or identification. Bugre founded FSM in 2010, short- ly after the NGO he was previously involved with – Suret Il-Bniedem – terminated its contract with the government to run the Marsa Open Centre. Along with FSM, he also runs the 'Third Country National Network', an umbrella organisation representing around 15 different mi- grant communities and groups. "Our aim was first of all to continue what we were doing at Marsa," he tells me at the FSM's offices in San Gwann. "We had embarked upon some reform initiatives there: we were putting a system into place at the centre, and were looking into some of the infrastructural prob- lems. As you know, the Marsa Open Centre was notorious for the state of its toilets, and so on. But the founda- tion also served another purpose: we wanted to empower the migrants themselves to have a voice of their own. This we plan to do in three ways: one, looking at integration; two, looking at the contribution of migrants to Maltese society, and three, sharing our experiences with the world outside of Malta." Originally offering support mostly to former MOC residents, Bugre's foundation has since widened its re- mit. "We are not looking only at peo- ple who arrive here by boat – mainly, sub-Saharan African migrants – al- though these are still the majority of the people we interact with and see. But we also now deal with Filipinos, Serbs, Russians, and various other categories of people. Not all are 'ir- regular'. Many have arrived here with a Visa. Some of them might have a permit to work; others might not. However, we deal with all types of people – Arabs, Eastern Europe- ans, people from Asia... for although all these migrant communities are different, they all have problems in common. The main issue has to do with integration. Malta doesn't have an integration policy, and that is one of the key struggles that migrants face..." This problem was brought very emphatically to the fore in recent weeks, after an EU-level agreement with Mali – among other African countries – resulted in the sudden arrest of a number of asylum seekers who now face deportation. It tran- spired that some of the persons ar- rested had been legally working here for years. For Ahmed Bugre, this develop- ment is doubly ominous. On one level, it raises questions concerning human rights and basic justice. On another, it exposes deep contradic- tions in Malta's overall immigration and integration policies. Let's start with the human rights angle. The Malians arrested earlier this month were all technically failed asylum seekers, even if some had been given legal temporary work permits. The government defends its intention to deport these people on the ground that they are here il- legally. Isn't there some truth to that argument? "I am not saying that deportation should never be considered. People who arrive irregularly, without pa- pers – and who have no right to asy- lum – can and should be deported. That's not the question. The ques- tion is, when? After how long? If a person arrives this month, and goes through the whole asylum process... it is found he doesn't qualify for asy- lum... there is an appeal, and he fails that too. Then yes, you put that per- son on a plane and send him back. But if you've allowed that person to live and work here for 10 years... to pay taxes and national insurance contributions... and then, suddenly, you take him back to detention, lock him up like an animal, and then de- port him: what about the contribu- tions he has paid? What about his taxes? This is the unfairness, the in- justice and the immorality of how it is being implemented..." There is also the question of re- turning people to unsafe territories, which is itself a possible human rights violation. "Countries like Nigeria or Mali are unstable. Mali in particular is not a safe place. Three quarters of it is de- sert. Young people there cannot find jobs... and we know that migration is not pushed only by war. Mali is in conflict, too, and this is one of the push-factors. But climate change is another factor forcing people to trav- el. Poverty has been acknowledged by the STGs to be a major push-fac- tor. These people have had to cross the desert, then the sea, to get here. The fact that the government could not deport them shows that there is a difficulty returning people to that country. Meanwhile, they have lived and worked here for five, six, seven, eight years or more...." They were also given to understand that their presence here would even- tually be regularised. "They were le- gitimately expecting that – since the government gave them valid docu- mentation – they would able to start a new life in Malta. I know people in those circumstances who have had children here, and those children are now attending secondary school. They have never experienced their parents' home country. They were born here through no fault of their own; they were given schooling here, they speak Maltese... are we just go- ing to send these families back, with- out giving the opportunity of a natu- ralisation process? Deportation puts these children in jeopardy. What is the best interest of the child?" This brings us to the contradic- tory policies. On paper, Malta claims to have an integration policy that proves to be invisible in practice. "How long can you be in Malta without ever having to think of a na- tionality, or even residency?" Bugre muses. "That is one of the major problems facing African migrants: not just the ones facing deportation. Even those who have been granted refugee status, or subsidiary protec- tion, and who have been here for 10 years or more... these people still don't know what their future might be. They are basically in limbo. Then you have those whose asylum ap- plication, at the time, had failed, but who, through no fault of their own, could not be returned to their home country. The issue might be lack of papers, lack of diplomatic chan- nels... either way, they have been living here, and have been granted a temporary status [mostly 'THP-n' – temporary humanitarian protection – new'], which is in itself a form of regularisation process. It was issued by the former Refugee Commis- sioner, in recognition of the fact that these people could not be left in a legal limbo..." The recent mass arrests have ef- fectively reversed that policy over- night... raising questions about the status of other categories of failed asylum seekers who have not so far been rounded up for deportation. "These people have been given same form of temporary protection – albeit local – and some basic rights, including the right to work. Again, however: how long can a status be considered 'temporary', when these people are working with a valid work permit, paying taxes and contribut- ing to national insurance? Where is their protection at law? They would be paying taxes, contributing to the national economy... but they have no right to social benefits beyond basic healthcare. They have no right to a pension, even though they are con- tributing to the pension fund." By accepting NI contributions, Bugre suggests, the government is giving a clear indication that these people are entitled to start think- ing about their future retirement in Malta. "This is where the problem starts for most of the people. What we try to do is help them, not only to get or keep a job, but also to under- stand Maltese society in general. We intervene in terms of renting apart- ments, conflict with employers... if somebody dies, we have to inform the family, organise the funeral... to- morrow, in fact, we have the funeral of Haji, who died under the Marsa bridge..." The full cycle of life, from birth till death, becomes visible in the pro- cess. "When a child is born, we visit and see what is needed, what can be done for the family, what their rights are at law... all this, we do to sup- port the communities to integrate in Maltese society..." But such efforts are hampered by the striking inconsistencies of the existing regulatory framework. "For Interview By Raphael Vassallo maltatoday, SUNDAY, 18 DECEMBER 2016 Integration is also about being given the prospect of long-term residency, or even citizenship. That is when a person becomes fully part of society If you've allowed a person to pay taxes and national insurance contributions for 10 years... and then, suddenly, you take him back to detention, lock him up like an animal, and then deport him: what about the contributions he has paid? What about his taxes? INTEGRATION INJUSTICE Mixed messages on