A group of 9 men today filed for judicial proceedings against their deportation, stating that they now have a legitimate expectation to be allowed to remain in Malta and have established lives for themselves.

In the judicial protest, filed against the Home Affairs Ministry, the Commissioner for Refugees  and the Attorney General, the Sudanese men argue that they have been through a number of procedures with authorities in order to regularise their position, and that they observed a number of failures in the system.

The protest read that the men did not have certain official documentation, such as passports, which they say are impossible to obtain from their home country.

The protest was filed by lawyers David Camilleri and Joseph Gatt. It argues that the government is trying to move the goalposts and find an excuse to deport them, stating that government knows such documentation is impossible to obtain.

The protest highlights lack of interpreters for non-Arabic speaking tribes, and that correspondence from the Commissioner for Refugees was sent to the applicants’ lawyers, and not the applicants. 

The lawyers said that the men were in Malta for such a long time through temporary humanitarian protection that was renewed, and that the men now have "a legitimate expectation of an acquired right," under EU law.