The article, written by Barbara Gruber, said that illegal immigrants who happen to come to Malta on their way to seek a better life in Italy are “trapped” in Malta in detention centres with “dark, filthy and overpopulated rooms.” The article continues that “there is no privacy, and the detainees can only go outside for fresh air once a day in a muddy field surrounded by barbed wire.”

The article said that since joining the European Union, Malta has become the first port of call for African refugees heading to Europe. But the island has a poor record of dealing with illegal immigrants and human rights officials are concerned, the article claimed.

“For the small Mediterranean island and its 400,000 inhabitants, the yearly influx of immigrants is a huge challenge. Unable to deal with the boatloads of Africans washing up on its shores, Malta sends many back home. A few of the lucky ones receive refugee status, while the rest remain in detention centres, their fate uncertain.

“In 2002, Malta experienced its largest wave of illegal immigrants when some 1,700 people landed on the island, the first European harbour on the route between Africa and the northern El Dorado of the EU. Although the numbers arriving since then have declined, the country still has difficulty coping with the many asylum seekers.

“Since becoming a member of the European Union in May, Malta has come into the spotlight of human rights organisations, who are concerned the country is overwhelmed by the problem.”

The article said that a report published earlier this year by the Council of Europe’s Commission for Human Rights focused on the situation in Malta and vehemently criticised the way the government treats illegal immigrants.

The article continued that Malta has “inhumane detention centres” where “would-be asylum seekers are detained in sealed-off holding centres in reputedly deplorable conditions. At Hal Safi, for instance, the rooms are dark, filthy and overpopulated. Ten men share a room; there is no privacy, and the detainees can only go outside for fresh air once a day in a muddy field surrounded by barbed wire.”

The article quotes European human rights experts criticising the systematic detainment of illegals. It also quoted Interior Minister Tonio Borg saying that the detention is justified and that it was necessary because of the national interest. It further quoted Dr Borg saying that “what one has to understand is that we are 313 square miles in size with 1,200 inhabitants per square mile. So we need special measures.”

The article said that according to Alvaro Gil-Robles, the Council of Europe’s Commissioner for Human Rights, “Malta’s detention policy is inhumane. The asylum seeker is someone who is escaping human rights violations, who is in distress and who needs help. Systematic detention cannot be justified,” he was quoted as saying.

The article also spoke about the psychological distress on the illegal immigrants. Some of them, it said, are even kept in detention for over a year. It said their applications for asylum have been turned down as have their appeals. “Many detainees suffer from extreme frustration which often leads to depression. More than a dozen have had to undergo psychiatric treatment.

One of the detainees, George Brown from Liberia, describes the situation from his point of view to the author of the article: “The situation in the camp is deadly. Since we entered here we’ve been suffering. We’ve been neglected, humiliated. They treat us like criminals here. We don’t know our fate in this place. We’re locked up, can’t go outside. We don’t have any rights in this place. We’re more or less like prisoners – though we did not commit any crime. Even prisons are better.”

The article said that only a few non-

government organisations have access to the detention centres. One of them is the Catholic group Peace Lab, whose volunteers visit the immigrants and provide them with newspapers and drawing material. The Socialist parliamentarian Joe Abela has been to the camps and says that the situation – although still alarming – has improved somewhat since the publication of the Gil-Robles report.

He says the detention centres are still overcrowded with just four showers and toilets for over 80 people. “There is no privacy. It’s cold in winter and extremely hot in summer. It’s just terrible,” he says describing Hal Safi.

The situation in the detention centres is even more shocking when compared to the conditions found in Maltese prisons, says Mr Gil-Robles: “Prisons are in good condition. The prisons have activities for the detainees and people take care of them. Generally speaking conditions in the prisons are much better than those in the detention camps.”

There’s another difference too: When a prisoner’s sentence is done, he is free to leave. The illegal immigrants in Malta’s detention centres, however, do not know how long they will have to wait. Months, years – their fate is uncertain, the author said.

The article also quoted European Greens secretary-general Arnold Cassola describing the systematic detention of refugees as “an obvious human rights violation”. “You cannot keep even an animal cooped up in an area where you have no space, no social life, where you can just walk up and down. Human beings need to exercise their mind and not be treated as if they have killed or stolen when they haven’t.”

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