Asylum seekers called off their hunger strike yesterday after meeting Mgr Philip Calleja, the director of the Emigrants' Commission.

The 21 illegal immigrants have been in Malta for several months and are being held at Lyster Barracks, Hal Far. They were protesting about being kept in detention while their application for refugee status is being processed.

They have also written to Justice Minister Tonio Borg asking him to intervene in the case.

Speaking after the meeting, Mgr Calleja said his impression was that the illegal immigrants were tired of waiting to be interviewed.

He said he explained to them the reason why their interviews were taking so long to be held, a situation arising from the sudden influx of 1,680 illegal immigrants within a short span of time last year.

The commission that Mgr Calleja heads is the operational partner of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees.

The 10 Liberians, six Chadians, four Somalis and another from Sierra Leone said on Thursday that they had applied for refugee status but were still waiting for an interview with the Refugee Commissioner.

Home Affairs Minister Tonio Borg said when contacted yesterday on his return from Brussels - where he attended a meeting of EU justice and home affairs ministers - that he was assessing the asylum seekers' letter as well as their situation.

But he reiterated that the Immigration Act made it illegal for asylum seekers to be set free.

He said steps had been taken so that persons who are declared refugees or given humanitarian status are allowed freedom but the process to determine this status for others has to carry on.

Dr Borg admitted the process took time, more so following the large number of illegal immigrants who landed in Malta last year and because the immigrants often do not possess passports or any documents.

He said certain applications for refugees status are treated more expediently than in other countries.

Dr Borg said steps had also been taken to give more freedom to unaccompanied minors. Many of these are attending government schools with the cooperation of the Education Ministry, as well as two church schools, the seminary and St Aloysius College. Education was being provided to between 50 and 70 children of asylum seekers.