The London-based company, Phosphoros Theatre, which stars refugee and asylum-seeking actors, has been forced to cancel its performances in Malta after one of its members failed to apply for a travel visa, the President's Foundation for the Wellbeing of Society (PFWS) said.

“It is with a heavy heart that we have to announce that the shows have to be cancelled, but Malta’s laws must be respected,” said a spokesperson for the foundation said.

The actors were invited to perform their autobiographical performance Pizza Shop Heroes on Wednesday and Thursday as part of the Lost in Migration Conference: Global Strategies and Political Commitments, organised by the President's Foundation for the Wellbeing of Society and Missing Children Europe.

The PFWS said the cast was scheduled to arrive late on Tuesday night but were stopped at Heathrow from boarding the flight because one of the actors, an Afghani asylum-seeker, had a travel certificate, which is not accepted by Maltese Immigration as a valid Schengen document for entry into Malta.

Phosphoros, composed of four young men who were asylum-seeking children, were invited to Malta to raise awareness about the plight of unaccompanied children fleeing persecution in their country.

Phosphorus Theatre reaction

In a subsequent statement, Phosphorus Theatre insisted that "Malta is not a country where refugees with travel documents need a visa to travel to, despite what Air Malta and Maltese immigration officials" told the company.

"We were informed that one of the travel certificates our company holds is not recognised by the Maltese government but we have not received any formal explanation or evidence to support this claim, and it took staff in London and Malta several hours to find out the answer to what one would assume to be a simple enquiry, due to no information being accessible in the public domain," Phosphorus Theatre said. "The case is not that we failed to apply for a visa - this is thoroughly misleading."

The company also said they were handled in a "verbal and agreesiveway" by Air Malta and "Maltese immigration" staff.