Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/899902
maltatoday SUNDAY 12 NOVEMBER 2017 Interview 15 Nils Muižnieks, the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, welcomes the local discussion on press freedoms in the wake of last month's grisly murder of an investigative journalist, as well as advances in integration of asylum seekers. But he argues that Malta's policy on female reproductive rights sets it apart from other member states out' ment necessary to fully participate in a society, there are a number of preconditions. One, for instance, is that you have your family. I talked quite a bit about family re- unification, and the prohibition for beneficiaries of humanitarian protection to benefit from family reunification. Syrians who come here, for example. Most of them have the status; clearly they are going to stay for a long time. But they're not allowed to bring their children or their spouses over. How do you expect them to in- tegrate? That's the very begin- ning. Next is to get a job and an education. But in the long-term, citizenship. You have very long waiting periods: 18 years just to be eligible to apply for citizenship. It's incredibly long. I don't understand the justifi- cation for such a long period of time. I understand that it's quite an un-transparent procedure: a purely discretionary decision taken by government, with no reasons given if you're refused. I find that... strange. Government would argue that, as a sovereign State, Malta is entitled to formulate its own citizenship policies... Of course, it's a government's prerogative how to give out citi- zenship, but I think it's in the interest of predictability and cer- tainty for applicants – but also in the interest of integration – that the time-frames should be recon- sidered, and more transparency should be injected into the pro- cess. So if someone does fulfil all the requirements: if they speak Maltese and English, have a job; a good reputation, no criminal record... and they're not going to go anywhere... why not recognise that, and give the person full sta- tus? What about the ones who do not meet those requirements? Malta has a high rate of refugee status recognition: but like all other systems there are those who do not pass. When you said that 'every migrant' should have the possibility to benefit from this strategy... were you also referring to failed asylum seekers? I'm aware there was an issue with the THPn [Temporary Hu- manitarian Protection new]... I loved discussions about how this was being rethought: how they don't want to make it automatic, but they want to provide some sort of pathway to regularisation for people who cannot be re- turned; who co-operate in good faith... and I welcome that. Clearly there is a growing num- ber of people who are failed asy- lum seekers; who do not need international protection; but who cannot be returned for one rea- son or another. I think it's in the country's interest to know about them; to let them have a legal ex- istence here, to work legally, to receive benefits and not to live on the fringes of society. Despite the visit's focus on migration issues, the media attention has so far centred on your claims – controversial, locally – that Malta should begin 'a public debate on abortion and the infringements of women's human rights resulting from its prohibition.'. You also said: "I note that abortion remains a taboo issue not debated publicly" and that "every individual or organisation should have the possibility to speak up in support of women's rights without fearing stigma or negative repercussions". Could you be more specific on the infringements arising from Malta's abortion policy? And how seriously do you do view these on a human rights level? Malta stands out. Four fifths of all Council of Europe member states provide abortion on de- mand. It is only Andorra and Mal- ta where there is absolute prohibi- tion on abortion. It doesn't mean abortions don't happen; it just means they happen illegally or underground, or when women go abroad. In Andorra, which is very close to the Spanish and French borders, they go abroad. I am told they do here as well. So prohibi- tion doesn't address the issue at its root: the demand for abortion. It just makes it less safe and more expensive. It makes it unequal: only women who can afford to go abroad, or who have travel docu- ments, can access safe abortions overseas All the same, pro-life campaigners (here and elsewhere) always argue that abortion 'is not a human right'. In fact, it is not listed explicitly in the Universal Charter. This raises questions about whether the issue actually falls within the remit of the Council of Europe's Human Rights Commission. Do you consider Malta's restrictive abortion laws to be a human rights issue? It is human rights issue: it affects a whole range of women's rights. It affects their right to health; it affects their right to bodily in- tegrity; their right to private life; it affects their right to be free of ill-treatment... because very of- ten, women who are confronted with such restrictive regimes and policies are ill-treated: by doctors, among others. It affects a whole range of wom- en's rights, and I find it of concern that the impact of this restrictive policy on women's rights is not even being discussed. This raises another question I once asked Rebecca Gomperts, the pro-choice campaigner who runs 'Women on Waves'. There is today more discussion on the issue than at the time: but then as now, there are no women's organisations which openly campaign for on-demand abortion in Malta. So why so much international emphasis on abortion, when Maltese women – through their NGOs – do not prioritise it as an issue at all? I actually heard from many women that they're afraid to raise this issue; because they're afraid of being stigmatised as 'baby-kill- ers', for instance. Or some wom- en's organisations which say they don't have a stand... basically be- cause it comes down to funding. They would lose their funding. I think it's disturbing, that in a developed democracy, you can- not have a democratic debate on a policy that affects the human rights of so many women.... es- pecially when your policy really sticks out, in the broader context. I think it's disturbing, that in a developed democracy, you cannot have a democratic debate on a policy that affects the human rights of so many women.... especially when your policy really sticks out, in the broader context ABORTION