Migrant claims illegal detention

A 43-year-old immigrant who has been detained in Malta for 14 months yesterday filed an application in the Magistrates' Courts requesting the court to declare his arrest illegal and order his immediate release.

In the application, Karim Barboush explained that he was born in Iraq and left his homeland with his uncle when he was 13 years old. After spending several years in Libya he decided to leave for Europe but, on May 5, 2003, ended up in Malta where he was arrested.

He was initially held at the police headquarters but was then moved to the Safi barracks were he has since remained, 14 months on.

Barboush applied for refugee status and on January 3, 2004, was interviewed by the Commissioner for Refugees. His request, however, was turned down on the grounds that he had not provided sufficient evidence regarding his identity.

In a letter dated March 15, 2004, he filed an appeal but has not received a reply regarding his case. In the letter Barboush also asked to be assisted by a legal aid lawyer, as was his right, but no lawyer had been assigned.

He added that throughout his detention he had been suffering from phobic anxiety disorder. His health was getting worse and he had been taken to hospital several times. Moreover, doctors recommended that he no longer be detained due to his condition.

On December 3, 2003, Andrew Galea Debono wrote a letter to the permanent secretary of the Justice Ministry in which he requested that the case of Barboush be examined with urgency after doctors recommended he be released, to live in a community, for health reasons.

But till today, there was no reply.

Barboush believed that not only was his detention unnecessary but it was also illegal in terms of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights.

He requested the court to declare his detention illegal and order his release.

Dr Galea Debono, Dr Cedric Mifsud, Dr Michael Camilleri and Dr Katrine Camilleri signed the application.