Migrants given meagre food allowances according to their status

Returned migrants living on Lm1.25 a day allowance

James Debono
A government decision to stop giving free food rations to asylum seekers, refugees and other residents in the open immigration centres is set to discriminate between different categories of migrants, by giving a higher daily allowance to migrants whose status gives them a right to work, and a lower allowance to those who are not even allowed to work.
As from the beginning of the year, the government stopped giving free food rations to residents in open centres.
MaltaToday is informed that most of this food was wasted because migrants did not like it. Instead of giving free food the government is now giving all migrants an allowance to buy their own food.
But the government is not giving the same allowance to all residents and is effectively creating different classes of migrants, despite the fact that all migrants have the same basic needs.
Unemployed migrants granted humanitarian protection – those who are not refugees but are granted temporary protection – are eligible for Lm2 a day. When they find legal employment, the allowance is stopped and they are asked to contribute for their accommodation in the centre.
But migrants whose appeal is also turned down by the Refugee Appeals Board, only receive Lm1.75.
The worst off are immigrants who are turned back to Malta after escaping to other European countries. These will only be eligible for Lm1.25 day, barely enough for one meal a day. The number of these migrants is growing as many European countries have introduced fingerprinting systems which can trace the immigrant’s first European stop.
Since these immigrants cannot even work, their only option is to seek illegal employment.

The Ministry for Social Solidarity defends the new system.

“This policy supports and protects all those who are officially certified to be genuinely fleeing from protection. The basic welfare needs of all others is being seen to through free accommodation and a basic allowance.”

Under the previous system  residents in open accommodation centres were given Government-paid meals through the Police kitchen.“In order to accommodate different cultural and religious traditions, the government has opted for a system whereby the funds previously utilized for prepared meals would be channelled directly to unemployed residents .”Residents in employment are also being required to pay to the centre a contribution to the cost of material living conditions.

The government’s new policy is that of providing basic welfare in open centres for a short period of time after their release from closed centres.“Since open centres are only a transitory bridge to resettlement, return or integration, and not a permanent solution for a person's future, these policies seek to encourage the individual concerned and the whole system to provide long-term solutions for each migrant.”Migrants talking to MaltaToday in the Hal Far open centre said that they abhorred the food supplied by the police. A Somali woman who lives with her husband in one of the two tents reserved for couples prefers buying vegetables from the green grocer’s van. Her husband has a leg injury and cannot find work.  They have to rely on a Lm 2 daily allowance.

Others chose to buy food cooked by fellow migrants.In Hal Far a make three entrepreneurial Sudanese residents have set up a make shift restaurant under one of the tents.But two migrants sharing a plate of kamunija-a Sudanese lamb stew complained that the food is expensive.“The food is better than that of the police, but it’s expensive. That’s why we are sharing one plate”A plate of stew prepared by Abdullah costs Lm 1.Abdullah bought the pens and pots from his own earnings and is confident that his small business will continue to expand.  Currently the three Sudanese cook for 60 people every day.The centre’s co-ordinator Stephen Mac Quinn explained that the restaurant will soon be transferred to a full-scale canteen with seating for 250 people. Construction of the new canteen is nearly finished.  In Marsa, another open-centre, food is prepared in four similar restaurants run by the migrants themselves.  A stray dog, which found its way in to the Hal Far centre, is not very happy with the changes.“When police rations was given for free he used to find lots of food to eat. Now he cannot find anything,” observed the centre’s co-ordinator.Mac Quinn-previously a military officer is used to solving logistical problems and has adopted a very practical approach to running the place.The place is kept spotless thanks to Amino-a 56 year old Sudanese- who is employed to keep the centre’s clean. Every resident has a locker where to place personal belongings.  Fixed toilets will soon replace the mobile ones.  The new cubicles have a hole instead of a toilet.“ They are not used to western toilets. That’s why you hear that they cause damage to toilets.  That’s because they squat on them” observes Mac Quinn.A launderette where migrants wash their own clothes-against payment- is also being constructed.On Thursday the open centre received 25 new residents freed from detention centres.The new residents were welcomed in the reception centre and briefed on their new life.

Only 8 platforms are left to be occupied by new tents.  The tent village, will be fully occupied by March.