Highlights from Malta Refugee Council’s First Training Session for its Members!
The project in brief
Empowering Malta Refugee Council Project is implemented by the Council with the support of the US Embassy in Malta and the Alumni Engagement Innovation Fund (AEIF).
With rapidly changing legal, political and practical developments, the project aims to maximize the potential and capacity of the Council's network through training sessions on the asylum system and its functionality in and outside Malta. The Council is dedicated to promoting the fundamental rights of people in forced migration in all aspects of our network's work.
It will continue to do so by increasing its value as a collective voice and positioning itself as a more visible stakeholder – another goal of the project we are working on by developing a National Campaign and by organizing a World Refugee Day Conference.
The national campaign will engage with the public and policy makers while promoting positive messages about people in forced migration. The World Refugee Day conference can be seen as the focal point of the project, which will offer a space for engaging discussions as part of the programme of Refugee Week Malta 2024.
More details coming soon!
The first training
The first training was held on 17 February 2024 and was fully attended (all places reserved). Various NGOs, both Council members and organizations outside our membership, participated in the session and addressed the reality of people seeking protection in Malta.
To contextualize the scope of the topic, the session presented representative statistical and analytical facts about people crossing the Mediterranean over the past two decades and reflected on the concept of mixed migration. Recognizing the complexity of Malta's asylum regime and the diversity of actors involved, the session provided an insightful look at how search and rescue principles and institutional responses impact people in distress in Malta's search and rescue area.
It expanded on the concepts of asylum application, admissibility, responsibilities of EU countries in relation to the Dublin III Regulation, possible outcomes of the ordinary asylum procedure, accelerated procedure, among others. Reiterating international law and standards, particularly the European Convention on Human Rights and the 1951 Refugee Convention, the training reminded us that:
“All persons have the right to seek protection in another country.”
“No one shall be subjected to torture or to inhuman or degrading treatment.”
Malta Refugee Council emphasized its commitment to protecting the rights of refugees and migrants and highlighted the central role of collective efforts in shaping the future we wish to see. Being able to navigate the complexities of asylum legislation, policies and practices is what the training sessions hope to accomplish.
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An overall view of the participants' feedback allows us to conclude that we have begun to achieve it.
An overall view of the participants' feedback allows us to conclude that we have begun to achieve it.
Come join us for the next sessions! Follow us on FB and stay tuned for news on the upcoming trainings in March and April 2024!
Contact us if you have any questions!
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Contact us if you have any questions!
