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Letter of Protest
Maltese Government’s Plan to Deport Eritrean
Refugees
President:
Guido de Marco
Prime
Minister – Mr. Eddie French Adami
Justice and Local Councils Minister – Dr Austin Gatt
Interior
Minister - Mr Tonio Borg
Excellencies,
the 1951 United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees has
created a system to provide protection to people at risk of persecution
in their home countries. As a result of that ruling the world has become
relatively safer. However, the Maltese government, although a signatory
to the Convention, is now attempting to go against the essence of the
Convention. It is a known fact that every signatory country has the
obligation to fulfil the essence of the Convention.
According to
the resolution of The Convention a refugee is a person:
(who) owing
to (a) well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race,
religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or
political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality and is
unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the
protection of that country (Article 1.A.2).
Obligations
come into effect after an asylum seeker has entered a signatory country,
and the responsibility of that person’s safety fall squarely on that
country. The core obligation is not to send someone back into a situation
of possible persecution. Another important obligation is not to penalise
asylum seekers for entering a country 'illegally'.
We have
learned that the Eritrean refugees in Malta are currently being held in
detention centres where conditions are substandard. We hope that their
living conditions would be improved very soon and that they would have
access to friends and family members in countries outside Malta.
The current
human rights situation in Eritrea, as attested by various international
agencies, is very poor at the moment. The European Parliament, Amnesty International, Human
Rights Watch and other agencies have been expressing their concern on the
deteriorating human rights situation in Eritrea. It is to be remembered
that Mr Antonio Bandini, the former EU representative to Eritrea, left
his ambassadorial post in Eritrea on the orders of the Eritrean foreign
ministry last September. On behalf of the EU countries, Mr Bandini had
submitted a letter protesting against the political arrests and the
indefinite closure of the country's independent press.
In Eritrea,
arbitrary arrests, disappearances and coercion have become so common that
many are fleeing the country.
Citizens whose views are different than that of the government are
living in constant fear of being targeted as many before them have been
victims of the State’s terror campaign.
We believe
the actions the Maltese authorities are taking against Eritrean refugees
are inappropriate and against the resolution of the 1951 Refugee
Convention. Therefore, we strongly
protest against the human rights breach and demand that the Maltese
government adhere to the provisions as stated in the resolution as soon
as possible.
Eritreans
for Human & Democratic Rights – UK
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