MALTA'S ASSISTED VOLUNTARY RETURNS PROGRAM SENDS

C O N F I D E N T I A L VALLETTA 000160 SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR G/TIP, DRL, PRM, IWI, EUR/WE E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/03/2019 TAGS: KCRM PHUM KWMN ELAB SMIG ASEC KFRD PREF MT SUBJECT: MALTA'S ASSISTED VOLUNTARY RETURNS PROGRAM SENDS POSSIBLE TIP VICTIM BACK TO NIGERIA REF: 08 VALLETTA 303 Classified By: Charge d'Affaires Jason Davis for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (U) On April 2 Charge' met Ives De Barro, a former Maltese Ambassador to Cairo who is now heading Malta's Assited Voluntary Returns (AVR) program for irregular migrants. Under the AVR program, immigrants who willingly leave Malta are flow at GoM expense back to their home countries and given 5000 euros to assist them in building a better life for themselves. ¶2. (C) De Barro said the program had been up and running for several months, and had so far repatriated a total of 112 immigrants, all of whom had been turned down for protected status in Malta. The largest numbers of participants had come from Ghana (approximately 40 individuals),Nigeria (approximately 30),and Sudan (20). De Barro said the program was ongoing, with additional 40 "pending" and an average of 30 traveling per month. ¶3. (C) De Barro said he and his small staff played the role of salesmen -- getting word of the program out to the immigrant community and attempting to convince them that it was in their interest to go home with cash in their pockets. The the biggest limiting factor was documentation, with some African countries being faster than others at confirming the nationality of their citizens and providing them with passports. ¶4. (C) Unprompted, De Barro brought up one case he had found particular interesting: a group of four Nigerian women who he believed had been planning to work in the sex trade in Italy when they were rescued at sea and brought instead to Malta (note: given the small numbers of east African women who come to Malta, it seems almost certain that these are the same four potential victims of trafficking mentioned reftel, who were identified and released from detention due to their vulnerability.) De Barro told the Charge' he had nearly convinced all four women to accept the airline tickets and return with the 5000 euros, but that they had been fearful of the "reception" they would receive back in Nigeria. In the end, he said, they had agreed that one of their number would return, and then report back to the other three. The return had been several weeks previously, he said, and he had so far not heard whether the woman who traveled had gotten back in contact with the women remaining in Malta. DAVIS