Probably we can all agree that a correctional facility is no place for children. A prison is a tough, intimidating place for adults most of the time, and the effect of merely entering it can be quite devastating on the long term for children.

Unfortunately, however, though in Malta we have a family-friendly facility that is meant to solve this problem quite elegantly, for some reason, children are still being made to visit their relatives directly at the Correctional Facility in Paola.

In fact, the appropriate infrastructure to allow children to spend quality time with their relatives, in an environment which is not scarring to their fragile sensitivities, was the topic of debate for a number of years - one which the Nationalist Party included in its proposals for a just and dignified detention.

I had taken a special interest in this topic when I was doing my research for my Master of Laws on the subject of meaningful and effective correctional facilities. In fact, I had even visited a prison in Turin, where they go out of their way to encourage inmates to change their lives around, and turn a brand-new leaf once their detention is over.

We cannot expect our over-crowded prison, which was meant to house 400 persons, and is now hosting some 800, to be the ideal environment for reform. Our inmates are sharing miniscule cells, with less than basic personal amenities. Fine, they have a debt with society, and they should pay for it. But the way things currently are, we are not helping them to get back on the straight and narrow. On the contrary, we are practically assuring that they will return to their criminal ways once back on the streets, effectively creating a brand-new problem.

Back to children visiting their families: as early as 2021, we had proposed the setting up of a facility, similar to the model operated in the UK and Italy, where prisoners will be able to spend quality time with their children, in an environment that would resemble that of a home. In such facilities, while ensuring that all the necessary security is guaranteed, children are protected from unnecessary psychological harm. In 2022, the proposal was included in the PN's electoral manifesto.

Hats off to government for listening to our plea and taking our proposal on board, opening the facility in 2023. It would have been better if the facility were closer to the prison, for logistical purposes, but it was a good step in the right direction, no matter.

However, during a visit at the prisons recently, I saw with my own eyes two children, the youngest of which couldn't be a day older than five years, entering the correctional facility to visit their loved ones.

For some unexplained reason, children are still being dragged to the intimidating correctional facility to see their parents or family members in the hostile surroundings of the prison, when the country has the infrastructure to avoid all this. 

What sense does this make? Why are we making these most innocent and vulnerable members of our society go through this, perhaps unleashing a world of pain on them?

In the correctional equation, we must guarantee that criminals pay their debt to society according to law, while justice is served to the victims. However, we must not put entire families into one basket. Relatives, especially young children of convicts, are as innocent as anyone else, and do not deserve to be treated like criminals, or being exposed to shocking experiences, because their relatives made a mistake along the way.

I have not received any explanation as to why this is happening, which is quite disconcerting indeed. However, I appeal to the Minister to amend this situation, hoping it was a rare occurrence rather than a common circumstance for whatever reason.

Dr Darren Carabott is the Opposition's Shadow Minister for Home Affairs, Security and Reforms, and President of the Public Accounts Committee