A ‘disempowering system’ : democratic practices militating against the realisation of human rights of irregular migrants in Malta

Abstract

Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork and in-depth interviews with irregular migrants and policy-makers in Malta, this paper shows how a democratic system, in practice, can work against the realisation of the human rights of irregular migrants. The article focuses on two aspects considered critical to democracy: firstly, the vertical tension between elected politicians in government and the electorate; and, secondly, the dynamics of bureaucratic institutions. Overall, by revealing the tensions between formal democracy and substantive democracy, or democracy in practice, I argue that a cultural approach to democracy is necessary to understand the political system as a ‘field of practices’ where human rights are not automatically upheld but, just like other values, continually negotiated and compromised. The outcome for irregular migrants in Malta is disempowerment and difficulties in accessing the most basic human rights, ironically by means of a political system originally designed to empower people.