Maltese authorities cleared on Eritrean deportation

A magisterial inquiry concluded that the whole process that led to the deportation of Eritrean citizens was completely and in every respect "regular and according to the law, apart from a failure of a procedural nature in the sentences handed down by the board of appeal (hearing applications for asylum), which failure in no way whatsoever affects the merit of all the decisions taken by the same board of appeal".

The inquiry report - copies of which were handed out to the media yesterday morning during a news conference by Justice and Home Affairs Minister Tonio Borg - said the Maltese authorities "did not in any way go against any directive by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, nor any directive of Amnesty International, or any other internationally recognised organisation that works in this sector".

Furthermore, the report states that the principal immigration official, the Commissioner of Police, had "scrupulously" followed the law dealing with the whole process that led to the deportation of the Eritreans.

The findings show that the police carried out their duties, regarding their obligation to interview all those who applied for asylum, in an efficient and legal manner and supplied them with all the information about their rights, including the right to refugee status.

The inquiry report concluded that no illicit pressure was brought to bear, either by a person or authority, so that the deportation would be carried out.

The inquiry found that the Maltese authorities were "legally correct in the decisions" leading to the deportation of a group of 233 Eritreans, who were rescued off Malta in July 2002.

The Eritreans who, according to the inquiry findings, did not want to apply for asylum but wanted to continue their journey to Sicily instead, were repatriated on four charter flights on September 30, and on October 1, 2, and 3, 2002.

The deported Eritreans opted not to apply for refugee status, even when it was pointed out to them that such action meant that they were no longer seeking international protection.

Among other things, the report noted that all the procedures in the appeal stage, where applications appealing against the refusal to be granted refugee status, all the decisions by the board of appeal were taken after a careful and painstaking examination.

In this context, however, the board of inquiry found that the board of appeal failed when it did not supply the reasons for its decisions, but the board of inquiry made it clear that this failure did not affect the legality of the process leading to deportation.

Magistrate Abigail Lofaro, who drew up the report, observed that the board of appeal has the right to hear a case without calling for a sitting but recommended that, where possible, such sittings should be held.

When it was pointed out by The Sunday Times that at the time of the deportation there were international calls by human rights organisations for the Eritreans not to be deported because of the civil unrest in Eritrea, Dr Borg said that at that very time the UNHCR was saying that Eritrea was a safe country.

Eritrea, together with about another four countries, was only declared unsafe for the repatriation of migrants this year, he added.

The inquiry report came at a time when the arrival of illegal immigrants has so far this summer reached extraordinary proportions, with the arrival of some 900 migrants having stretched the facilities at the detention centres to the very limit.

On Friday, a boatload of about 200 migrants encountered difficulties to the south of the island because of the rough sea. While just over a 100 of them agreed to come ashore, assisted by the Armed Forces of Malta, the rest insisted that they wanted to proceed to Italy.

AFM commander Brigadier Carmel Vassallo said yesterday that after the immigrants had requested a supply of blankets, the boat people decided not to wait for them at all and instead lifted anchor and continued on their way to Italy.

Asked whether Italy would send these immigrants back to Malta according to the agreement reached between the two countries, Dr Borg argued that the agreement talked of immigrants leaving either from the shore or from internal waters.

When pressed by reporters that the boat was in internal waters, Dr Borg added that one would have to see what international law on salvage said about such cases.

Dr Borg explained that Malta was trying to secure funds from the EU to distribute to NGOs looking after clandestine immigrants, particularly the Emigrants Commission and the sisters of Bon Pastur in Balzan, who accommodate 360 refugees, and the Peace Lab at Hal Far, which was looking after about 20 such immigrants.

Malta planned to ask for additional EU funds, citing Malta as a special case due to its size and the disproportionate number of immigrants arriving on our shores.

Talking about his longer than expected meeting with his Italian counterpart Giuseppe Pisanu last week, Dr Borg said that the chances are that the Maltese prime minister will be visiting Libya to talk to the authorities there about the handling of this humanitarian problem. It is thought that most of the migrants leave from the Libyan coast.

Dr Borg told The Sunday Times that Mr Pisanu, who is expected to pay a further visit to Libya, gave Dr Borg more details on the situation in Libya and said the Libyans were disposed to co-operate.

One idea mooted is for groups of clandestine immigrants to be absorbed by EU countries where the birth rate is low and the population of young men is not enough to meet the needs of the economy.

The inquiry on the repatriation of the migrants took three months to conclude and included 14 court sittings, which were open to the public. Magistrate Lofaro heard the testimony of 48 witnesses; a number of them more than once, and 88 documents were exhibited.

According to the inquiry document, on March 4, two years ago, 208 Eritreans landed in Xlendi. On July 25, 2002, another 251 Eritreans were "saved from drowning" by the AFM. None of the Eritreans had permission to land in Malta.

Members of the media at yesterday's press conference felt that these reports ought to be distributed to newsrooms hours ahead of a news conference and embargoed if necessary, to give journalists time to read them before the briefing.