Protection begins at Sea

A Malta Refugee Council conference on refugees crossing the Mediterranean



World Refugee Day Conference | #DontLetThemDrown

20 June, 12.00 - 17.30The Catholic Institute, Floriana

The Malta Refugee Council is proud to launch our

2025 World Refugee Day Conference:

Protection begins at sea:
A Malta Refugee Council conference on
refugees crossing the Mediterranean.


In April 2025, the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) confirmed that the Central Mediterranean migration route is the world’s most deadly. The Organisation’s published data shows that almost 25,000 people have died along the route since 2014.

At least 499 people have died or disappeared in the Mediterranean in 2025 alone.


At the same time, sea arrivals in Malta are at an all-time low. 238 people reached Malta by sea in 2023. Figures from earlier years confirm the downward trend: 380 in 2023, 444 in 2022, 832 in 2021 and 2,281 in 2020. 

Why do people get onto boats to cross the Mediterranean? What happens out at sea after people in distress launch an SOS? Who is responsible to ensure lives are not lost? Where are people disembarked after having been rescued? Why are figures so low for Malta, when we know people are still fleeing their homes?

Why are people dying on our doorstep?  


For World Refugee 2025, the Malta Refugee Council underlines that protecting refugees begins at sea. As they embark on perlious journeys seeking the protection they were lacked at home, refugees risk all. It is Malta’s legal and moral duty to ensure that no lives are lost in its area of responsiblity.

The Malta Refugee Council urges you to join the discussion and to explore what more can be done to ensure that Malta’s migration policies  are not built on deaths at sea.

Conference Programme


12.00 – 12.45                           
Light networking lunch, Registration

12.45 – 13.00                           
Welcome Address
Neil Falzon, aditus foundation

13.00 – 15.00
Panel 1: What happens out at sea?
Prof. Daniela Debono, SAR Malta
Malcolm Cutajar, Ministry for Home Affairs, Security and Employment
Sara Zingariello, Jesuit Refugee Service Malta
Dursa Mama Kadu, Spark15

Moderated by 
Julian Delia, The Critical Angle Project

15.00 - 15.30
Coffee Break

15.30 - 17.15
Panel 2: How to protect refugees at sea
Flavia Zimmermann, Blue Door Education
Parvina Munarova, UNHCR Malta
Bérénice Gaudin, Sea-Watch

Moderated by
James Cummings, The Times of Malta

17.15 - 17.30
Malta Migration Archive
Danny Mainwaring and Kirstin Sonne

Closing
Katrine Camilleri, Jesuit Refugee Service Malta



REGISTER HERE!


20 June 2025, 12.00 - 17.30
The Catholic Institute, Floriana
On a first come first served basis
Contact us

The Conference is organised within the framework of the #DontLetThemDrown initiative, with the generous support of Dance Beyond Borders.

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Established with the kind support of the Dutch Refugee Council