The revised Act states that the case of each person who enters Malta illegally should be treated separately, as each person’s case history is bound to be different.
What is certain is that the government wants to do away with the unnecessary detention of people, as has happened in the majority of cases. Last week’s ‘release’ of 50 irregular migrants from the detention centre in Hal Far was a clear indication that the government has taken a stand against the long detainment of people who enter Malta illegally.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees had expressed his concern to the Maltese authorities regarding the prolonged detention of asylum seekers on several occasions.
The group which were released last week did not qualify for refugee status and before they knew it they were kept in detention for years. They are now living in an open-centre in Hal Far. They have house rules, and have to report ‘home’ every evening but at least they can go for walks and leave the centre without being followed.
According to the Ministry of Justice and Home Affairs, which gave the go ahead for last week’s group to be released, others will join them at the ‘open centre’.
The men, the youngest is 18, come mostly from Sudan, Sierra Leone, Eritrea, Cameroon and the Congo. They had entered Malta illegally over the past years, and on their arrival they were detained at the Hal Far and Safi Barracks. After their release last week they gathered outside the Peace Lab in Hal Far with Father Dijonisju Mintoff.
Their application for refugee status in Malta rejected, they appealed the decision to receive yet another negative reply. According to Fr Mintoff this was the first time the police and the Armed Forces of Malta had communicated with the men.
Referring to asylum seekers the UNHCR state that detention should be the “exception” and not the “rule” (according to Art. 14 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the right to seek and enjoy asylum is a basic human right). Detention should only be resorted to in case of necessity, and on exceptional grounds when there is a need to verify documents, to determine the elements on which the refugee claim is based, and to protect national security and public order.
Last week’s release of immigrants raised concern among many, including Labour home affairs spokesman Dr Gavin Gulia. A few months ago Dr Gulia visited the different detention centres in Malta, he said the problems faced by detained illegal immigrants should be tackled in a bipartisan manner, and the Church should be more proactive in dealing with this problem.
But last week’s release, Dr Gulia told this newspaper, has confused people. “If last week’s release of detainees was an act of good will, a one-off that is fine but if this is something which is going to be done on a ‘regular’ basis as has been reported in the media then further explanation is needed.”
Dignity
Between January 2002 and March this year the Office of the Refugee Commissioner in Malta processed a total of 933 applications for refugee status by 1,171 illegal immigrants. Seventy-seven were granted refugee status, 528 humanitarian protection, 510 were rejected, 34 withdrew their application, and 22 still have their application being processed.
Until the end of January this year, the Refugee Commission had interviewed all those who arrived in Malta illegally, applied for refugee status, and were being detained.
UNHCR recommends that asylum seekers are housed in open centres, where they can go out, return at stipulated times and be properly assisted. This is already being done in countries world-wide.
From the moment a person files an application for asylum, that person is considered to be an asylum seeker. It is only when the application is rejected, and also its appeal, that the person is referred to as an irregular migrant.
Late last year, Alvaro Gil-Robles, the Council of Europe’s Commissioner for Human Rights, had condemned the “shocking and appalling conditions,” of detention centres he visited when in Malta.
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