Government in sharp reaction to Amnesty International report
The government this evening reacted sharply to an Amnesty International (AI) report which had criticised Malta's treatment of illegal immigrants.
"Contrary to what the report states, Malta’s detention policy does not run against its international obligations. Furthermore, Malta has never failed to adequately protect people stranded at sea within its Search and Rescue Region," the government said.
Referring to incidents singled out by AI, the government observed that both occurred outside the Maltese Search and Rescue Region. In the first case the boat was neither sinking nor in any imminent danger whilst in the second, due notice was given to the relevant competent authorities.
"As for detention, it is totally incorrect to state that at the end of June 2007, there were 3,000 migrants detained. In fact, the actual number at the time was 1,300. The figure quoted by Amnesty International seems to have been made up of the total number of immigrants held in detention and the 1,800 people accommodated in the open centres. It is worth noting that those immigrants availing themselves of the open centre facilities are free to move out as they please and cannot in any way be considered to be detainees."
"The claims made by Medicines du Monde (MDM) and quoted in Amnesty International’s report are also false. It is not true that a pregnant woman gave birth in a detention centre. Moreover there is no facility for solitary confinement at any of the detention centres in Malta. It is therefore hard to understand how Amnesty International could condone and endorse such an unfounded allegation."
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Malcolm Seychell
May 30th 2008, 10:06
Amnesty International and UNHCR are working against Malta's interest.
The government should shame them. They quote misleading facts and half truths, to keep on putting forward their agenda
M Borg
May 30th 2008, 09:05
MEP's please take note! You have to use your position to protest against such inaccurate reports which are unfair on us Maltese!
Joseph R Aquilina
May 30th 2008, 08:40
The Malta Government is to be congratulated and internationally commended for its sensitive and balanced handling of a very difficult Immigration problem that seems to be becoming graver and graver with every passing year. The human beings involved in the tragedy cannot but arouse our compassion, while the fact that we are the EU’s southernmost outpost exposes Malta to numbers that the country cannot be expected to handle. The Government’s sober suggestion for EU “burden sharing” has so far sadly gone unheeded. Malta should be grateful to the USA for accepting to host quite a number of genuine refugees that had landed in Malta. It is hoped that the example of the USA will trigger EU countries to rise to their joint and collective responsibilities in this matter.
Raymond Sammut
May 29th 2008, 23:56
The Maltese government does not need to give any explanation to these organisations. If Amnesty International was worth its salt, these illegal immigrants would not have been in this dire situation in the first place. Amnesty International should deal with undemocratically elected governments that push their respective peoples to such extreme limits where they risk their lives, risk other people's lives, and become a burden upon other governments. We are sick to death of these lobby groups, they no longer have credibility, and they should learn how to show respect to our democratically elected government.
paul galea
May 29th 2008, 22:49
it is great for international agencies like Amnesty to make a big show with a small state like Malta with its limited resources and over population !! why don't they get their act together and do some real good instead . see that they and other agencies like UNCR [?] do not hinder arrangements between countries for transfer of refugees and act against the perpetrators of illegal human transport for example . why they do not help to return illegal immigrants to where they came from ? playing bully with the small does not impress . it lowers our esteem for their otherwise worthy cause .
Charles P Cilia
May 29th 2008, 22:49
One would expect that Amnesty International would check their sources before going public with such defamatory and unfounded information.
victor pulis
May 29th 2008, 22:06
Amnesty international should put its money where its mouth is or else mind its own business.
We stand alone in this therefore we have a right to look after our interests. is amnesty international putting pressure on the international community to come to our aid? criticism will not solve our problem/crisis. suggestions to solutions may help.