Taking a stand : some reflections on the political mobilization of NGOs working with refugees in Malta

Abstract

Whilst the Mediterranean refugee arrivals to Malta actually commenced in the late 1990’s, the year 2002 is generally recognized as the beginning of what would become one of the most controversial, headline-grabbing, and painful issues in Malta. More than a decade on, the ‘refugee crisis’ hit the global headlines. Wars, conflicts and violence in Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq, Somalia, Eritrea and beyond resulted in unprecedented numbers of refugees. For more than a decade the EU responded with the securitization of borders, forcing refugees to take ever more dangerous journeys. Such policies have contributed to unparalleled loss of life. Between 2000 and 2017 an estimated 33,761 migrants and refugees lost their lives in the Mediterranean Sea. And yet they continue to make the journey – such is their plight. In 2015, the EU witnessed a significant increase in the number of sea crossings. The containment policies that had, up to then, been the key policy adopted by individual Member States and the European Union (EU), in preventing arrivals, imploded.