The Jesuit Refugee Service (Malta) has called on the government to stop automatically resorting to the detention of people caught entering Malta.
The JRS, which is this week marking 10 years of service, voiced grave concern at the "incalculable" human cost of indefinite detention of undocumented migrants, including asylum seekers.
Speaking yesterday at the launch of an exhibition at St James Cavalier, in Valletta, to commemorate the JRS anniversary, director Fr Pierre Grech Marguerat said detention should only be used as a last resort.
"Many people seeking protection do not have any choice but to travel illegally. This is not a crime in international and domestic law, it is a breach of immigration regulations and should not be used as a basis to detain migrants and violate their fundamental human rights," Fr Grech Marguerat said.
"In line with other international organisations, including the United Nations, JRS maintains that detention must be proved necessary in each individual case."
JRS is deeply disturbed by the harsh physical conditions that close to 1,000 detainees face.
"Migrants in detention are held in conditions which are an affront to human dignity," Fr Grech Marguerat said.
"Their situation is often worse than that of condemned prisoners in spite of the best efforts of the security forces to accommodate them.
"People have been sleeping for months in tents, in bitter cold and flooding when it rains. Most of those with a roof over their heads are severely overcrowded, with 35 people in one room. Some are not even allowed in the open air for one hour every day," he said.
JRS assistant director Katrine Camilleri, who provides legal counselling in the centres, said detainees were traumatised by uncertainty about how long they would be confined.
"Detention causes incalculable harm to migrants who are already in a highly vulnerable position on arrival, having undertaken dangerous journeys to escape intolerable situations at home," Dr Camilleri said.
"Many detainees have been locked up for 11 months now and we are witnessing their psychological deterioration and growing despair. Some cry, refuse to eat and cannot sleep," she said.
JRS felt there should be no reason why asylum seekers should be detained until their application for refugee status was processed.
Dr Camilleri pointed out that between 1990 and 1994 Malta had welcomed an estimated 1,700 asylum seekers in the community.
"Previously, we were ready to offer asylum seekers refuge which befitted their dignity. Why are we not doing the same now?" she asked.
The exhibition, which will run at St James until the end of the month, features works by Iranian artist Lida Sherafatamand who has lived in Malta for the past 11 years.
Her work reflects a commitment to human rights and peace.
The exhibition also features works by Mercy Joseph, an asylum seeker from Eritrea who has been detained since July by the authorities.