Malta was the only country in the world which sent Eritreans who arrived as illegal immigrants back to their country, where a cruel fate awaited them, Eritrean Catholic priest Teklemariam Hailé has claimed in an interview.

Fr Hailé who, as the chaplain for Eritreans in Northern Italy is based in Milan, said that no one could know exactly what happened to the Eritreans who returned to their country - they could be killed immediately, tortured and killed or sent to spend the rest of their lives in hard labour.

"Anything is possible in Eritrea. What is certain is that their arrival would have been met by some kind of punishment, if not death," he said.

Fr Hailé was in Malta as a guest of the Peace Lab last week, which brought him over to give evidence in an appeal lodged in court by a number of Eritreans who were denied refugee status by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.

For their appeal the refugees sought the assistance of the Peace Lab and lawyer George Abela.

Home Affairs Minister Tonio Borg stressed in parlaiment recently that Malta could not host illegal immigrants other than those who were recognised as being refugees or those deserving temporary shelter until the situation in their country improved.

He said that the process through which refugee status was considered was detailed and time consuming. Interviews by the Refugees Commissioner had lasted from 20 hours in one case, to two hours at least. But once immigrants were not granted refugee status, they could not expect to continue to stay in Malta.

The minister had said the government had been criticised for repatriating illegal immigrants against their will.

These people, he said, came to Malta against the will of the Maltese and one could not expect the government to seek their permission to repatriate them once efforts for them to be given refugee status were exhausted.

On another occasion, the ministry had said that there was no evidence that the Eritreans sent back to their homeland after arriving in Malta had been tortured.

A spokesman had said that "reliable contacts" in Eritrea had dismissed claims that the deported Eritreans were detained and tortured in prison upon arrival.

Fr Hailé said:

"It was very unfortunate of the Eritreans to disembark in Malta. It had never been their intention to come here. To land in Malta was for them a misfortune.

"Their destination was Italy. They wanted to go to Italy because they know that even if they are not accepted as UNHCR refugees they would still be accepted in that country for humanitarian reasons and allowed to stay for good."

In May, the UNHCR declared the cessation of refugee status for Eritreans who fled their country because of the war of independence, or the border conflict with Ethiopia.

The UNHCR had said that the root causes of the Eritrean refugee problem no longer existed, as fundamental and durable changes had occurred with the end of the 30-year-old war with Ethiopia in 1991 and Eritrean independence in 1993.

It said peace had returned with the signing of a ceasefire agreement between Ethiopia and Eritrea in June, 2000, and the establishment of a UN-supervised security buffer zone between the two countries.

Fr Hailé said he understood the Maltese government's concern and that illegal immigrants were an economic burden on the country.

"The Maltese government can now rest assured that Eritreans are being careful not to come to Malta ever again.

"The fact that some of those who arrived were sent back made news all over the country because no other government had ever sent Eritreans back. Eritreans would only come here if something unfortunate happened to them on their way to a different destination."

He said that some of the Eritreans who had landed here did not even apply for refugee status as they knew this would be denied. They had hoped that Malta would send them to another country which would provide shelter.

Had the Maltese government conceded refugee status they would not have stayed here, Fr Hailé said. These people, he pointed out, already had families in Italy.

There were several thousand Eritreans in Italy, he said.

In Milan alone, there were 3,700.

From Italy they also had the opportunity to go to other countries in Europe and beyond.

Fr Hailé expressed his disappointment that not even the Church in Malta had intervened when the Eritreans were repatriated.

He said that 250,000 soldiers who took part in the Eritrean war with Ethiopia had not returned and youths were still being made soldiers on the pretext of conscription.

"Youths are running away not because they do not want to fight for their country but because they do not believe the war is a just one; and there is no freedom of expression of any kind in their country."

No one, Fr Hailé said, liked to leave his country against his wishes but this traffic of young people would continue unless the dictatorship of the country was brought to an end.

He said escaping the country was itself a risky act of desperation.

Anybody caught fleeing or even believed to be thinking of fleeing the country was either tortured and killed or killed instantly.

He said that while in the West conscription was carried out in an orderly manner, this was not the case in Eritrea. Those enrolled in the country were kept on for as long as the government wanted.

The government also showed no consideration for particular needs. Giving examples, he said that if both parents of an only son were blind, their son would still be conscripted. A father of eight children who was the sole provider of the family would also be enrolled.

Fr Hailé said he was last in Eritrea in July. He used to go home at least once a year but now that he had spoken out against the government he could not return because he would be killed, he said.

He said his village was one of many where no sign of youth remained. Those who were still alive had run away.

His appeal to the west, he said, was to eradicate all dictators.

"The dictators are the reason behind so much poverty and trouble in Africa. There can never be peace in the world for as long as there are dictators."

He urged people to read the book by Eritrean Capuchin monk Abba Teweldeberhan Tzeggai "In Defence of the Oppressed" to learn more about the situation in Eritrea.

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