NGO Repubblika on Tuesday expressed its anger and sorrow that Prime Minister Robert Abela is "abandoning decades of consensus in Malta's domestic and foreign policy" and has aliged himself with the far right to undermine fundamental human rights.

Repubblika reacted to Abela's ministerial statement yesterday, where he announced that there was an agreement to discuss the possibility of reforming European conventions to reflect modern-day realities.

In a statement Tuesday, Repubblika said that it "completely reject the idea expressed by Prime Minister Robert Abela yesterday that human rights conventions written eighty years ago have now expired and need to be changed to reflect what he calls the reality of migration today."

It said that the Prime Minister is arguing that existing rights should now be removed so that the government can carry out actions that have, until now, been considered illegal.

"Human rights are fundamental: this means they are part of human dignity, and violating them results in inhumane treatment of victims and inhumane behavior from those who commit these violations," Repubblika said.

It said that human rights are inalienable, meaning that they are not a gift granted by the government that can be revoked, removed, or diminished when government policy changes.

"Human rights are universal, meaning they apply to everyone without discrimination based on citizenship, nationality, or race," Repubblika said.

The NGO said that Abela has demonstrated gross ignorance of historical facts when he claimed that when the Human Rights Conventions were written in the 1940s, their authors could not have foreseen the migration conditions that would arise eighty years later.

"The authors of these conventions in the 1940s wrote them in the shadow and living memory of World War II and the Nazi Holocaust. These authors had witnessed firsthand the consequences of governments denying refugees their right to flee persecution and hardship in their home countries," Repubblika said.

It continued that the conventions written 80 years ago did not create these rights.

The rights to life, free speech, a fair hearing, freedom from torture, rescue from drowning, and asylum from persecution have been recognized - though often not respected, for as long as humanity has lived, Repubblika said.

"Some of these rights have been elaborated on for centuries. The obligation of those who are able to save those drowning at sea has been part of Mediterranean civilization for thousands of years," Repubblika said.

It said that what sets apart the conventions written 80 years ago is that they established international laws to protect these rights and to shield every human being from the abuses that those in power can commit.

"Robert Abela wants these international laws changed so that he can do what is currently prohibited: commit atrocities against the victims he is targeting," Repubblika said.

It said that the universality of human rights protects everyone, and if Abela can change the law "to strip Africans of their rights," nothing would stop him from changing the laws tomorrow, "to strip the rights of anyone else who bothers him."

"We are aware that Abela is not the only head of government in the world who is suddenly abandoning the democratic norms that democracies have upheld for the past 80 years. In fact, Abela himself aligns with other right-wing, often far-right, governments when justifying this attack on fundamental human rights," Repubblika said.

Repubblika said it rejects Abela's extremism and appealed to everyone who values democracy, and to all moderate and progressive individuals, to renew the national consensus that fundamental human rights must not be trampled upon by anyone.