Mission Statement

To provide social welfare services to irregular immigrants in order to help them meet their basic needs with dignity and respect and enhance their quality of life, to prioritize the most vulnerable cases, and assist their integration in to Maltese society where appropriate, in accordance with Government Policy.

The Service

The Refugee Service of Appoġġ was set up in July 2004. Among the areas of work that it covers, there is social work intervention and management of the Hal Far Open Centre, which is an accommodation centre for irregular immigrants released from detention.

At present one full-time and a part-time social worker assist the Service Area Leader in working on cases of 'vulnerability' of persons who are in detention, such as, minors, pregnant women, those with disability, and the elderly as well as the early release of these persons on these grounds in accordance with the National Policy on irregular immigrants. The social workers also follow cases of persons living in the Open Centres or in the community, such as pregnant women, women with child care issues, individuals with disability issues among others. There are also persons who are patients in Hospitals with medical or mental health issues, and the social workers of the Refugee Service liaise with the social workers in these entities to carry out their interventions. Another area of their work is the assessments carried out for Care Orders under which unaccompanied minors are placed under the Care and Custody of the Minister and placed in special residences.

Appoġġ's Hal Far Open Centre, apart from providing accommodation to immigrants, also meets other basic needs such as the provision of food which is supplied by the Police force. Beyond meeting basic needs, the aim is to build a sense of community at the centre and empower the residents to become self-sufficient and independent, a well as being integrated into the Maltese society.

Aims and Objectives

- To assist in the issuing of care-orders for unaccompanied minors and place them in special residential centres.

- To secure early releases for pregnant women, and families with minor children.

- To secure early release for elderly persons, and persons with special needs.

- To refer to the competent authorities all other cases which are assessed as meriting special attention.

- To run an open centre for asylum seekers, where residents can participate in the running of the centre.

- To provide social work interventions to persons living in the community, and in open centres.

- To contribute to the formulation of policies and procedures, especially where social work is involved.

- To liaise with Governmental and non-governmental organizations to provide a more holistic service.

- To organize training and conferences about relevant issues that have to do with the service user population of the service, and to help others working in the same field.

- To pay particular attention to new developments in this work and which will need to be presented for assessment and improvement.