The asylum system in Malta needed to be improved so that all those who needed protection would get it, Jesuit Refugee Service director Pierre Grech Marguerat said yesterday.

The JRS has drawn up a series of recommendations in which it praised the recently set up authorities in charge of determining asylum status, but said that some matters had to be tackled urgently to ensure the rights of asylum seekers were adequately safeguarded.

"Much progress has been achieved since the Office of the Refugee Commissioner was set up in October last year; the fact that we have an asylum procedure is in itself a major development.

"The aim must always be to improve the protection Malta gives to asylum seekers," he said.

"The most effective system is utterly useless if asylum seekers are denied access to it. JRS reaffirms the fundamental importance of allowing every person who claims to need protection to apply," the recommendations stress.

The recommendations make proposals on training for immigration officers, police and members of the Armed Forces, and for mechanisms to ensure asylum seekers can exercise their rights, especially the right to legal aid.

The appeals process is underlined as an area of grave concern, and JRS calls for greater transparency in the way decisions are taken.

Another concern was the amount of information provided, JRS expressed concern about the amount and quality of information provided about the asylum process, and stressed that it needed to be provided in a language understood by the applicant. This led to a call for the setting up of a pool of interpreters.

"People who are recognised as refugees or granted humanitarian protection should be informed of their rights. Asylum-seekers whose application has been rejected should be informed of their legal options in the circumstances," it says.

The recommendations will shortly be presented to Home Affairs Minister Tonio Borg.

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