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."