The government had been warned about the potential danger to deported Eritreans days before they were shuttled out of Malta in 2002, according to Amnesty International.
Amnesty had e-mailed Home Affairs Minister Tonio Borg on September 27, 2002 to warn him about the torture and punishment the Eritreans could face upon their return. The illegal immigrants were deported on September 30 and October 3, 2002.
The subject was also brought up during last night's adjournment in Parliament, when Labour MP Joseph Abela tabled correspondence sent to the government prior to the Eritreans' deportation, also warning about the possible repercussions.
The reactions to the situation came after Dr Borg insisted at the weekend that the Maltese government had had no information whatsoever that the 220 Eritreans repatriated in September 2002 were in any potential danger.
Dr Borg at the weekend commented on an Amnesty International report published last week which claimed that a number of deported Eritreans had been tortured or even killed upon their return.
Amnesty was not impressed by Dr Borg's defence:
"We never expected a democratic government to deny the obvious... and well-documented reality," Martin Hill, Amnesty International researcher for the Horn of Africa, yesterday told The Times.
In an e-mail to Dr Borg, dated September 27, 2002, and sent to The Times yesterday, Amnesty highlighted the human rights situation in Eritrea and the treatment of illegal immigrants in Malta.
"Amnesty International is seriously concerned about issues surrounding the reception and treatment of recently arrived asylum-seekers in Malta and fears that, unless claims for protection are adequately examined, many could be at risk of serious human rights abuses upon return to the countries of origin," it said in its e-mail.
Amnesty went on to urge the government to refrain from returning any asylum-seekers until their claims for refugee status were examined in full. In Malta's case, the vast majority of Eritreans had not applied for refugee status.
Amnesty said that the majority of Eritreans did not apply for asylum because they hoped to be able to proceed to another country. Amnesty said it received claims that, when faced with deportation, many reportedly wanted to apply for asylum but were ignored by the authorities.
Amnesty attached a document on the human rights situation in Eritrea, which claimed that there had been a pattern of major human rights violations over the past year.
"Specific categories of asylum-seekers that would be at risk of serious human rights violations, including arbitrary detention, torture or ill-treatment, extra-judicial execution of the death penalty, if returned to Eritrea would include suspected opponents or critics of the government, including suspected supporters of exile opposition groups, conscientious objectors to national military service and army deserters."
Amnesty wrote again to the ministry on October 10 pointing out that the Eritrean authorities had neither acknowledged the detention of the deportees nor revealed their whereabouts to families.
It called upon the government to suspend deportation of Eritreans until a thorough, independent investigation had been carried out into their fate and an assessment made as to whether Eritreans could be forcibly returned in safety and in dignity.
Dr Borg replied to Amnesty on October 4 and 14, 2002. He assured them that each case presented by the asylum seekers was carefully examined and he defended the government's policy on detention.
The minister also stated that the government was not in possession of any evidence that any ill-treatment was meted out to the deported Eritreans and that the Eritrean Director of Refugees was reported to have rejected any allegations of ill-treatment.
Amnesty yesterday took exception to a comment made by the minister that the fact that the torture allegations were coming from a small number - four out of 220 - confirmed that the government had been right to take a decision to deport them at the time.
"Even if one person made claims of torture, then the government should be concerned," Nerys Lee, researcher for Western Europe said.
More than four individuals had made claims of torture, according to Amnesty. Besides, the "consistency" of their accounts signified their veracity.
Dr Hill said Amnesty had reliable information that a good number of those deported from Malta were still being detained. It was even aware that some of those imprisoned managed to escape again. Five of these were now settled in Sweden.
"Obviously, the Eritrean government denies all wrongdoing. What we expected the Maltese government to do is to realise it was making a serious mistake."
The youth section of Alternattiva Demokratika yesterday called for a revision of the system employed by the government in its treatment of illegal immigrants and the management of the migratory flow.
ADZ said it supported calls made by Labour's justice spokesman Gavin Gulia for an independent inquiry into decisions taken by the Home Affairs Ministry to forge ahead with the deportation of the Eritreans.
"Dr Borg has to take responsibility for the failure of the detention system," ADZ said.