The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has welcomed the announcement by Justice and Home Affairs Minister Tonio Borg, that an independent detention monitoring board will be established by the end of September. Dr Borg said that the board would be composed of independent members and oversee the running of Malta’s detention centres

UNHCR has for long been concerned with the conditions of detention of asylum-seekers and refugees in Malta and strongly supports the setting up of a mechanism created to ensure that the various detention centres are continuously monitored and the international standards to run them are maintained.