The Maltese government is being urged to remove countries that criminalise LGBTIQ+ identities, such as Algeria, Egypt and Morocco, from the list of safe countries, with the aim of protecting such refugees. On the occasion of 2022 Malta Pride, NGO Aditus Foundation presented its ‘Safe4All’ legal initiative, a bill proposing to amend Malta’s asylum legislation to guarantee that LGBTIQ+ refugees are “truly and effectively” protected in Malta. The NGO points out that ‘several’ countries the island describes as safe are actually quite unsafe for LGBTIQ+ persons. This “glaring gap” in the legislation can risks returning LGBTIQ+ refugees to countries where they could face “institutionalised discrimination, imprisonment, violence or death”. While Malta has topped the rankings for LGBTIQ+ rights for the past seven years, life is more difficult if you are a migrant or refugee. Malta’s asylum legislation, the ‘International Protection Act’, lists countries deemed by Malta to be ‘safe countries of origin’. Any refugees who come from such ‘safe’ countries have their asylum application automatically fast-tracked and rejected. Refugees are also denied the possibility of appealing the rejection.
