Emigrants' Commission endorses call for international help

Malta's avenues for resettling refugees were curtailed right when the influx of illegal immigrants boomed after 2001, a fact that should spur the international community to share the responsibility, the head of the Emigrants Commission argued, endorsing the plea of the European Parliament delegation which visited last week.

Speaking to The Times, Mgr Philip Calleja said Malta's problem worsened after the law governing refugees was introduced back in 2001 because, as a consequence, a number of legal avenues for the resettlement of refugees were closed.

The commission made this case to the MEPs who visited the detention centres for irregular immigrants last weekend.

The delegation emerged from the visit "shocked and disgusted" by what they had seen. But, while heavily criticising the conditions in the centres, the MEPs said they would recommend that the EU helps Malta with resettlement.

Martine Roure, a French member of the delegation, told Home Affairs Minister Tonio Borg that the delegation will seek a derogation for Malta in relation to the EU's Dublin II regulation.

In practice this would mean that asylum seekers who land here could move on to Europe and have their application screened there, something which is not possible under current regulations.

The Italian MEP on the same delegation, Stefano Zappalà, proposed a similar idea, which is that Malta should be considered a transit state by the EU for immigration purposes.

The Emigrants Commission endorsed the statements made by the MEPs, particularly that by Ms Roure.

On Friday, the Emigrants' Commission lobbied the MEPs on this point. But the issue does not stop with the EU.

"Malta post-2002 is no different from Malta pre-2001 - the year when the asylum Bill was enacted," Mgr Calleja said.

Since then, Malta started being classified as a "safe" country and all resettlement programmes that the commission used to apply, through the assistance of the UN's refugee agency, stopped.

"Between 1991 and 2001, we were supported by the UNHCR to assist in the resettlement of hundreds of refugees in places like the US, Canada and Australia," Mgr Calleja said.

The commission made a number of recommendations to the delegation, which include a differentiation in treatment for the different categories of immigrants held in detention.

Among these, Mgr Calleja said that asylum seekers waiting to be interviewed, independently of the period of time it takes for them to be called in for a meeting, should not be detained for more than two to three months.

Similarly, asylum seekers whose application for refugee status has been rejected but are awaiting appeal, should not be held longer than six months.

"As for those who appeal after their application for refugee status is rejected and the appeal is confirmed, we feel that, as these are kept in detention, they should be kept separate," he said.

The government had already introduced a similar policy of favourable discrimination with regard to women, children and disabled immigrants. These are released after medical screening and the necessary documentation filled, a policy that the commission supports, Mgr Calleja added.

The commission also drew the MEPs attention to the situation faced by a number of immigrant families, which are separated. "We have cases where family members have been living apart for years... or children who have never seen their father."

It is estimated there are about 100 such families, involving over 300 people living outside Malta.

"We basically asked that the heads of these families be resettled in the country which hosts their family."