Remarks on detention surprises minister

Home Affairs Minister Tonio Borg yesterday expressed surprise at the critical remarks on illegal immigrants made by an Italian parliamentary committee on immigration.

The comments made by the committee during a news conference on Thursday were completely out of line with what was discussed during a meeting a day earlier, Dr Borg told The Times.

Malta's lengthy detention of illegal immigrants came under fire from the committee, which questioned whether human rights were being breached.

The Italian committee was in Malta for three days to learn about the methods being used by the government to control illegal immigration and the surveillance of frontiers in view of the policy of cooperation between Malta and the EU.

Italian committee member Pietro Tidei accused the Maltese authorities of being heavy handed with illegal immigrants by incarcerating them for up to two years.

Dr Borg said the committee acknowledged the fact that Malta's detention policies, especially with those who did not deserve protection, had contributed to a drastic reduction in the landings of illegal immigrants.

"At no point during our discussions were we criticised for being heavy handed," the minister said.

He said he explained the contents of the new Refugee Act, which grants provisional freedom to certain individuals.

The minister said the two sides agreed on the need to continue discussions with Libya on the problem of illegal immigrants leaving from the North African country, especially to establish a repatriation agreement.

Dr Borg also suggested the possibility of Malta being included in the joint repatriation flights agreement, whereby one flight would make stops in different countries to collect illegal immigrants bound for the same country of origin.

Earlier in the week, Malta's treatment of illegal immigrants also came under fire from the Council of Europe's Commissioner for Human Rights, who criticised the island's detention policies.