At least 15 children, including three newborn babies, are currently held in a closed detention centre in clear violation of government’s own policy on immigration, The Malta Independent on Sunday has learnt.

The children, whose ages vary from 23 days to 17 years, are being housed in the Lyster Barracks in Hal Far.

Apart from contradicting official government policy – as published in Irregular Immigrants, Refugees and Integration, which states that “irregular immigrants who, by virtue of their age and/or physical condition, are considered to be vulnerable are exempt from detention and are accommodated in alternative centres” – the detention of minors and babies also raises a number of health and safety concerns.

Among the conditions that make Lyster Barracks particularly unsuitable for small children is the lack of sterilizing facilities for babies’ bottles, a lack of mosquito netting, hygienic problems arising from flies and other sanitary hazards, the possibility of infection due to overcrowding, as well as the fact that the women and children concerned are housed together with single men: a practice universally condemned by international aid agencies.

Furthermore, children in detention are denied access to sufficient education, in violation of their fundamental human rights.

Occasionally, the presence of small children at Lyster Barracks has also posed problems for the facility’s administrators. Last week, one of the newborn babies required emergency hospital treatment for a severe rash. The Malta Independent on Sunday is reliably informed that an AFM official, on duty at Lyster Barracks, drove the child to hospital in his own car.

Neil Falzon, of the United Nations High Commission for Human Rights (UNHCR), acknowledges that individual members of the Armed Forces have been very generous and understanding under the circumstances, adding that soldiers have been known to buy baby food and nappies out of their own money.

“UNHCR understands that Malta is going through a crisis, and that immigration is a burden on Malta’s limited financial and human resources,” he says. “However, the UNHCR reiterates its position against the arbitrary detention of asylum seekers, especially vulnerable groups such as women and children.”

According to Mr Falzon, a procedure to identify vulnerable groups is already in place, with members of Agenzia Appogg regularly visiting the closed centres. Apart from women and children, vulnerable groups also include the elderly, people with disabilities, and people suffering from psychological problems, sometimes caused by torture in their own home countries. The process of identifying such groups is known to take time, mainly because of a lack of personnel.

With regard to the children currently in detention, including the babies, Mr Falzon is confident that the situation is temporary precisely because of the abovementioned factors. “But the fact that they are detained, even for a short while, is still objectionable. The practice cannot be justified under any circumstances whatsoever,” Mr Falzon concludes.