Malta treats asylum seekers in an “inhuman and degrading” fashion and routinely detains them for up to 18 months in abysmal conditions, a prominent French medical charity said in a report last Monday.

“Malta is together with Cyprus the only member State that foresees a systematic detention of asylum seekers,” said Medecins du Monde France.

Applicants were locked up on average for 10 to 12 months until their identity could be established and their application processed, said the report. Some had been held for up to 18 months.

Several asylum seekers told MDM investigators: “We are treated like animals.”

According to Niklas Luhmann, MDM’s mission coordinator in Malta, the “main areas of concern are the existing conditions of overcrowding and cohabitation, disastrous sanitary facilities, and lack of bottled drinking water...”

“MDM calls for an immediate change in the existing detention policy, especially as the detention of men, women and minors under current conditions for a maximum period of 18 months is clearly an inhuman and degrading practice that harms the psychological health of the detainees.”

The non-governmental organisation also called for the immediate separation of single women from men in the detention centres.

The report specifically criticised the treatment of vulnerable people, notably children and pregnant women, who were often detained for weeks at a time.

Although the report ? from the medical charity co-founded by France’s current Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner ? is highly critical of Malta, it also criticises the EU for not doing enough to help countries in southern Europe to tackle the problem.

“Thus countries with limited resources ? such as Malta and Cyprus ? are facing a relatively high annual burden of asylum seekers,” it said.

MDM called for complete medical check on all arrivals within one week and the speedy processing of applications of minors and vulnerable adults.