Home Affairs Minister Tonio Borg underscored the importance of the detention policy for illegal immigrants yesterday, pointing out that the number of migrants who came to Malta in 2002 equalled half the birth rate.

Speaking at a meeting of the parliamentary Social Affairs Committee, Dr Borg said Malta will offer to host the European Border Control Agency which the EU plans to set up to fight illegal immigration through the management of the union's external borders.

The committee was discussing illegal immigration.

The minister said the government was seeking to reach repatriation agreements were several countries, and Malta would benefit from certain readmission agreements signed by the EU.

The minister explained how immigrants granted refugee status in Malta were given a number of rights, including the right to work, through legislation which was enacted in 2000.

He said that over 600 persons have since gained refugee or humanitarian aid status with the approval rate in Malta being over 50 per cent.

Following the influx of 1,680 illegal immigrants in 2002 a serious crisis had resulted with some 900 immigrants in detention in December that year, an emergency the country had not been prepared for. The extent of the problem was such that the number of illegal immigrants was equal to half the birth rate.

This invasion, the minister said, placed a burden on human resources and accommodation.

Dr Borg said that the government was refusing to bow to international pressure not to keep in detention people applying for refugee status. One had to keep in mind, he said, that one of every two asylum seekers did not get refugee status. Had the 1,680 not been kept in detention in 2002, there would have been other problems and pressures, notably on jobs and accommodation. He also pointed out that none of the 1,680 had had a passport or any other document. Such people did not carry documents, he said, because they did not want to show where they came from.

The government, Dr Borg said, had set up an "open centre" at Hal Far accommodating more than 100 immigrants and another was opened by the army at Hal Safi.

The minister said that although Malta's was the only prison in Europe where each prisoner had his own cell, this was not possible in detention centres and as a result there was a certain lack of privacy.

But it was wrong of anyone to expect the Maltese government to build a centre specifically for these people without any assistance. What the government had to do was reduce problems of overcrowding in centres.

Dr Borg said that a total 1,300 persons had been repatriated. But there were migrants who did not cooperate and repatriation took time as they did not give information.

The time it took the Commissioner for Refugees in Malta to decide applications for refugee status was not longer than what it took those in other European countries.

The difference was that immigrants in Malta were kept in detention. However, when detention was longer than reasonable there was now a possibility for such persons to be allowed freedom.

The term 'reasonable', however, depended on each and every case. The decision was taken by the Immigration Appeals Board.

Dr Borg pointed out that a detention policy was also follwed by the USA and Australia for immigrants from 30 countries, which happened to be the same countries the immigrants in Malta came from.

With Malta being the fourth most densely populated country in the world, it made sense for the policy to continue to be followed.

If the government was too lenient, the problem would grow but on the other hand, some sort of solution had to be found for those who had been in detention for two years or over.

Labour MP Gavin Gulia, who had called for yesterday's meeting, said he visited the detention centres at Ta' Kandja and Hal Far. At Ta' Kandja immigrants were behind bars and there were about 28 persons in each of two rooms.

He realised that because of the influx of immigrants certain problems had been created but there were three problems he believed could be tackled.

One was detention, which he believed could be improved through legislative measures.

Another problem was the time it took for the processing of applications for refugee status.

There was then the problem to repatriate those persons whose application for refugee status has been rejected.

The country could not have a situation in which a person whose application was refused and could not be repatriated, was released. If the immigrant was released in such circumstances, the state itself would be going against the Refugees Act.

He agreed the government should be tough in such instances. But when it came to pending applications, where the process was lengthened because of bureaucracy, the detention policy had to be modified so that such people could be given restricted freedom of movement.

An EU directive, Dr Gulia said, specified that the duration of temporary protection shoud be one year, which could be extended by another year at the most.

Dr Gulia also pointed out that if immigrants were being detained to discourage others from coming to Malta, he wanted to disassociate himself from such a policy as he did not believe people should be used as scapegoats.

He complained about a lack of privacy for the migrants at Ta' Kandja, even in bathrooms and toilets.

He said the immigrants at Hal Far were hostile and unjustly insulted police officers who were cooperating and respected their customs and religion.

He said he found food quality to be very good. The immigrants told him he could go there as often as he liked but what they wanted was their freedom.

Dr Gulia called on the Church to be more proactive in assisting to solve the problem. Although there was the cooperation of individuals associated with the Church, the Church itself should do more.

Commissioner for Refugees Charles Buttigieg said that following the 2002 influx, a system of first come first served was adopted in the consideration of migrants seeking refugee status. The longest it took his office to process an application was eight months but since October it was three months.

Only two immigrants were currently still waiting for an interview but there were a number of persons about whom a decision had not yet been taken as they had themselves requested time to obtain more documents as proof of residence.

Police Commissioner John Rizzo said that a month after the Hal Far centre was built as soon as he became commissioner, there was an influx of illegal immigrants. Eventually the available centres had not been enough and army tents had had to be set up for a period.

Then an emergency accommodation centre was set up at police headquarters. It was true that there were a number of persons to every room, but that, after all, was the situation even in hospitals, he said.

There were yards at all centres where immigrants could pass the time, and they were given many books, magazines and indoor games.

He complained that the migrants damaged the facilities at the centres on several occasions. Things were broken on purpose in protest against authority. Malta could not afford such an attitude.

The immigrants did not even want to clean their own mess and when they were asked to sweep the floor they asked for money.

Working with them was not easy and they could not be trusted as they were all in the same situation - wanting to escape. They were young and fit and ready to risk their lives. To visit them once was one thing, to live with them was another, Mr Rizzo said.

He said the immigrants were given three meals a day including dessert, bottled water and milk. They had a colour television in every room.

With Malta the fourth most densely populated country in the world it made sense to detain illegal immigrants, Home Affairs Minister Tonio Borg argued in parliament yesterday.