[WATCH] Ghanian migrant’s voluntary return process was halted over unpaid court fines

Frederick Ofosu, 32, who took his own life on Monday, had applied for voluntary return to Ghana but the process was halted over unpaid court fines

Activists have protested the deportation of migrants
Activists have protested the deportation of migrants
Carmelo Abela: Administrative changes to THPn to be announced soon

The uncertainty and pressure arising from the uncertainty facing migrants without protection in Malta took its toll on a 32-year-old man from Ghana, who on Saturday night took his own life.

Frederick Ofosu was found strangled with an electric cable in a Qawra building site, The Times reported, and left a recorded message explaining why he killed himself: he was being forced to feel like a criminal, when he had done nothing wrong.

Ofosu, who had been in Malta for eight years, did not have temporary protection as previously reported. Malta has 1,200 migrants who fall under the Temporary Humanitarian Protection-New (THPn) statuses, given to failed asylum seekers.

But home affairs minister Carmelo Abela said during a press conference dealing with the death of Ofosu, that the Ghanian had been refused THPn status three times already, and that in September 2016 he had applied for assisted voluntary return: a programme that grants returning migrants a financial support package.

Photo: James Bianchi/MediaToday
Photo: James Bianchi/MediaToday

But the process had to be halted, due to pending fines he had yet to pay on a court case dealing with a past misdemeanour.

Abela has urged anyone in possession of the recorded message left by Ofosu, to hand it over to the police, which is investigating the death in an inquiry led by Magistrate Caroline Farrugia Frendo.

Botched deportation process

It is not the first time that persons with temporary humanitarian protection in Malta have found themselves in despair: when nine Malian migrants remained detained at the Safi detention centre, one of them turned suicidal.

The nine migrants were released earlier this month because Mali failed to send any documents which would make their deportation possible. The group was kept under arrest for three months, uselessly.

Ahmed Bugri, managing director at Foundation for Shelter and Support to Migrants, said Ofosu’s recorded message conveyed a general feeling of hopelessness – one which is felt by many in similar situations.

“This is not just about Fred… it’s about hundreds who like him have faced years of uncertainty. In this case, the pressure took its mental toll,” Bugri said.

Due to changes to the THPn status, migrants have been given until October 31 to start making arrangements to procure all the required documentation from their country of origin. Human rights NGOs believe that the government is imposing requirements which it knows the migrants will not be able to meet.

The review of the THPn status has had employers concerned over their workers, who are now in the dark of whether their employees will be able to continue working for them, or not.

Many of the migrants have been gainfully occupied and contributing to Malta’s economy for at least 10 years. Others have been in Malta since the year 2000. Many have paid taxes and national insurance contributions, as well as starting their own families and developing friends.

NGOs have argued that the migrants who currently enjoy THPn status do so because they have committed themselves to integrate – part of the process includes the presentation of documentation confirming employment history and integration efforts.

But now, they are being asked to procure their passport from the country of origin by 31 October – something which is considered to be impossible, especially since many would have landed in Malta without any documentation.

A legal aid appearing for Ofosu last year had told a court that the man suffered from a lot of anxiety, because he was finding no cooperation from the authorities.

Photo: James Bianchi/MediaToday
Photo: James Bianchi/MediaToday

Party reactions

The Nationalist Party called Ofosu’s suicide a damning indictment of the failure to address the issue of those failed asylum seekers in Malta who cannot be returned to their country of origin.

The PN argued that the introduction of a level of humanitarian protection status was to cover those cases of people who fell through the cracks in existing legislation and found themselves in no-man’s land – unable to be returned and unable to legally stay in Malta.

“The safe return of failed asylum seekers must be part and parcel of any migration policy, but this must be done in a humane way with full respect for people’s dignity, with common sense solutions that protect those desperately in need,” the PN said.

“Ofosu’s death must be a wake up call to all those pushing populist, ineffective policies in an effort to use migration as an electoral scapegoat. It is a failure of the system that has let down the most vulnerable in our societies.”

The Democratic Party pointed out that Ofosu’s case is not an exception, and many others went down the same path.

It urged the government to come up with concrete integration and inclusion plans for people who have been granted THPN status and who have become part of Maltese society.

“Those people already accorded that status, should not be treated as a number or as an inconvenience but should be given a right to residential status in our country, given that they have become fully integrated and possess a clean conduct,” it said.

The party went on to urge the state to give citizenship to children born in Malta to migrants. Policies, it added, should address people and not numbers.

The Democratic Party also suggested that the government sets up a lobby within international fora to redefine the term ‘refugee’, as the current definition reflects a post world war situation and has not been updated since then. “Refugee status should take into account current global realities, so that people do not suffer injustice due to outdated policies. The acquisition of refugee status should be made possible by compiling a set of criteria which reflect today’s reality with regards to the causes of human displacement.

“Climate change, war and weather induced famines can cause families to flee just as much as any other abuse of their humanity.”