Members of the press were this morning given a tour of the two detention centres – in Safi and in nearby Hal Far – which together house over 900 asylum seekers and immigrants intercepted or rescued on the way to Malta.

The visit was organised by the Home Affairs Ministry, whose spokesman emphasised that members of the press were also free to arrange further visits at any time.

Journalists were escorted at all times and travelled in groups, but were given the freedom to visit any part of each detention centre and to talk to anyone, although time, given the ground they had to cover, was at a premium.

At present, the Safi centre houses 664 people – all single males – while the 3-storey Hermes Block at the Lyster Barracks in Hal Far houses another 258, 105 men and 153 females.

A sizeable proportion of detainees have only been detained for days or weeks – most only arrived in Malta earlier this month.

Under Malta’s controversial detention policy, asylum seekers may be detained for up to 12 months, while those who do not apply for humanitarian protection – or who see their claim rejected – may be detained for up to 18 months before they are automatically released.

However, the average stay has been brought down in recent year, and is now 5 months.

Children – and their parents – are released from detention as soon as possible, and no children are currently in detention, although a number of detainees claimed that they were 17 years of age.

During the visit, Detention Services head Lt Col Brian Gatt repeatedly emphasised that the two centres were running close to capacity.