Malta came under intense international criticism yesterday following last week's incidents between army personnel and illegal immigrants at the Safi Barracks.
Speaking to The Times while accompanying the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Ruud Lubbers, in talks with the European Commission in Brussels, Raymond Hall, the UNHCR's European Bureau director, said the UN agency was "deeply concerned about the apparent use of excessive force by Maltese soldiers when breaking up a peaceful demonstration by asylum seekers and irregular immigrants last week".
Mr Hall was quick to commend the speed with which the government ordered an inquiry into the events and said that the UN will be awaiting the conclusions of this inquiry.
Mr Hall, who together with Mr Lubbers had meetings with the EU Commissioner for Justice and Home Affairs Franco Frattini and the president of the European Parliament Josep Borell, said the Malta incident was not raised during the meetings.
However, he said, the broader perspective of the need for the EU to start sharing the burden with countries like Malta was emphasised.
Mr Hall said the UNHCR was shocked with the incidents especially since people had to be hospitalised following a peaceful protest. In the context of what happened, the UNHCR reiterates its advice that Malta should re-examine its detention policy, which involves mandatory detention for as long as 18 months and is by far the strictest in Europe.
He said: "The UNHCR is strongly opposed to the practice of mandatory detention, whereby asylum seekers are routinely detained until such time as they are recognised as refugees".
Asked how long detention should ideally be, Mr Hall said this should not be imposed automatically and one had to consider the particular circumstances of individual cases.
He said detention should also be subject to judicial review within specific time limits.
Earlier on, the Safi Barracks incidents were raised at the daily press briefing at the UNHCR's headquarters in the Pails de Nations in Geneva. UNHCR spokesman Ron Redmond gave an account to tens of journalists from the international press of what happened and publicly condemned the incident.
Mr Redmond also commented on living conditions at the detention centres in Malta and said they are of "extremely poor standard". He said "these conditions, along with the duration of detention in Malta, explain, at least partly, why protests such as the one on January 13 tend to occur".
Mr Redmond said that some of the approximately 450 occupants of Safi Barracks are housed in tents that provide little protection from the winter cold and summer heat.
Even those accommodated in buildings are for the most part living in very overcrowded and inadequate conditions, he said.
Women and children have often had to share the tent area with men who are not relatives, without inadequate safeguards against sexual abuse, he added.
In some parts of Safi and the other detention centres, even the bathrooms are common and there are no doors at toilets or showers, Mr Redmond said.
He said: "The UNHCR has discussed Malta's detention policies and conditions with the authorities on a number of occasions over the past couple of years. Last June, the UNHCR submitted a detailed report to the authorities which outlined a wide range of shortcomings in the four detention centres and contained numerous recommendations for changes.
"Despite a number of official letters requesting further dialogue, the UNHCR has to date received no official written response from the Maltese authorities."
The UNHCR spokesman said his organisation fully appreciates Malta's concerns that, given its proximity to major smuggling routes from North Africa, it risks being overburdened with asylum seekers and irregular migrants. However, he added, the High Commission does not believe such concerns warrant detention as a deterrent.
According to the UNHCR, Malta received 116 asylum seekers in 2001, 350 in 2002, 568 in 2003 and 674 in the first 10 months of last year.