The Baxter International Foundation – the philanthropic arm of Baxter International Inc. – has this year awarded a grant of $52,532 over a two-year period to the Jesuit Refugee Service (Malta), in support of a project in aid of medical and mental health services for asylum seekers in detention in Malta. The grant was presented to Fr Charles Caruana SJ, acting director of JRS Malta and Dr Katrine Camilleri, assistant director of the Jesuit Refugee Service in Malta, by Sergio Vella, director manufacturing of Baxter Malta.
Speaking during the presentation, Fr Caruana thanked the Baxter International Foundation for supporting this vital project as well as expressed his appreciation of their laudable involvement and assistance, worldwide.
Fr Caruana said “In recent years many asylum seekers arriving in Malta have ended up in detention because they entered the country illegally or travelled in an irregular manner. This includes vulnerable people such as asylum seekers with medical or mental health problems, pregnant women and lactating mothers, victims of trauma and torture, and unaccompanied minor asylum seekers. Unfortunately, very often the needs of these people are neither recognised nor met due to the lack of resources. Many of them end up suffering undue stress and mental health problems. The JRS project has been designed specifically and with the intention of providing a professional support service to vulnerable asylum seekers in detention.”
With the funding received from Baxter, JRS will be employing one full-time and one part-time employee who together with volunteers will seek to maintain regular presence in detention centres.
Fr Caruana added: “We believe that the presence of specially trained professionals, such as social workers and community/outreach workers in detention centres would make a significant impact on the quality of life and on the physical and emotional well-being of such vulnerable people. These professionals would seek to accompany asylum seekers in detention, identify their needs and ensure that they are able to access the services of and obtain the assistance they require.”
Mr Vella said “as the philanthropic arm of Baxter International Inc., The Baxter International Foundation’s support to the Jesuit Refugee Service is a natural one and in line with the company’s philosophy to help increase access to health care worldwide. As a caring employer Baxter is very proud to support JRS in its endeavours to help improve the quality of life of other human beings.”
The Jesuit Refugee Service is an international Catholic organisation, active in over 40 countries, with a mission to accompany, serve and defend the rights of refugees and forcibly displaced people. Fr Pierre Grech Marguerat SJ, heads the JRS in Malta which was set up in 1993. At the beginning of its operation, JRS-Malta attended to the primary needs of refugees and asylum seekers, seeking sponsor families, accommodation and educational opportunities. In recent years JRS has focussed its attention on asylum seekers in detention, providing basic services and lobbying the government to change its policy of mandatory and indiscriminate detention.
Baxter International Inc. is a global medical products and services company that, through its subsidiaries, provides critical therapies for people with life-threatening conditions. Baxter has been established in Malta since 1988 and employs 575 people in its facility at the Marsa Industrial Estate where it manufactures a range of disposable medical devices for the health care industry.