Maltese NGOs in open letter to PM as country hosts Valletta Summit

Open letter from The People for Change Foundation and NGOs to Prime Minister Joseph Muscat:

Hosting the Valletta Summit on Migration provides a unique opportunity to provide and develop leadership in an area where it is much needed. Over the past 15 years Malta has been in a unique situation of accepting a relatively large number of asylum seekers particularly from East Africa. This summit is an opportunity not only to reflect on Malta’s important role in the region, but also to reflect on how Malta’s policy will develop on the basis of this year’s developments and the growing need for regional and inter-regional cooperation.

In view of this, we call for:

• An open and equitable dialogue between parties to the summit, and decisions that respect the fundamental values of the European Union including respect for human dignity, human rights, rule of law and solidarity. In particular, measures to address the current crisis should not detract from the obligations emanating from international human rights and refugee law. 
• A truly humanitarian and just approach to be applied, whereby those who require protection from persecution, war or harm are granted this right (and safe means of seeking such protection). Dialogue with African countries should not become a tool to further limit the opportunities for people in need of protection to seek such protection. Whilst the root causes of forced migration, including conflict, poverty and human rights violations, must be addressed at source if we are to work towards a world in which families are not forced to leave their home, this will take significant time, resources and political will from all parties involved. In the meantime, the lives of those facing persecution and violation of their basic rights must be protected internationally by States able to do so.
• Ensuring that the principle of solidarity is effectuated within the EU context and extended to countries of origin or transit, as well as countries in the region which are hosting the vast majority of those displaced. Financial and other assistance should be provided to support these countries which are struggling to cope with current displacement levels.
• Developing a model of development and humanitarian assistance that are conditional not upon free trade and privatization of essential services, or on readmission of failed asylum seekers, but rather on sustainable development of basic services including health and education systems, and on equitable and fair trade policies. Moreover, ensuring that development and humanitarian assistance from Malta support both multilateral and bilateral relations, and that they contribute significantly to the empowerment of grassroots communities through adequate and collaborative monitoring. 
• Improving opportunities to link development and migration, not least by providing opportunities for economic migration to Europe, including schemes for circular migration that will help support the development of countries of origin. Further efforts should be encouraged to support the involvement of diaspora communities in the development of countries of origin, and to ensure that remittances are facilitated.
• Recognising that migrant smuggling has become increasingly profitable due to the failure of European and other safe countries to provide legal and safe avenues for seeking international protection, and that therefore the strongest and most sustainable tool combating the role of such illicit activity in the area is of ensuring that those who require protection are given legal and safe avenues for seeking it from States that can offer it.
• Approaching migration with a wider and more positive outlook, appreciating the benefits of diversity to both the social and economic spheres. In so doing, addressing the needs that are relevant to migrants, including making provisions for intercultural approaches to primary services including health and education, and addressing issues relating to the treatment of migrants in a number of spheres including the labour market and incidents of discrimination or racism.

We call on you as the representative of the Maltese government and people, to show the leadership necessary to move the debate forward, and to place respect for human rights and human dignity at the forefront of the discussions with EU and African leaders, and of the way forward in implementing the decisions of these negotiations.