PACE committee heads express concern at state violence against migrants

The heads of the Migration and Equality committee of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly have referred to the death of an asylum seeker in Malta while he was being detained by two soldiers last Saturday and expressed grave concern at an increasing number of incidents of state violence against migrants and refugees.

Giacomo Santini and Tina Acketoft said in a joint statement:

“The recent alleged beating to death of an asylum seeker in Malta while being detained by two soldiers last Saturday is an extremely serious incident. Attacks against migrants and refugees are of increasing concern, including in Greece, where there are a worrying number of allegations of police brutality, and failures by them to investigate racist attacks on migrants and refugees.”

They welcomed the signals from the Maltese authorities that they would conduct a rapid investigation into the death of the asylum seeker and emphasised the need to stamp out violence against migrants and refugees, whether by state actors or by individuals.

“Persons responsible for such violence must be brought to account,” they concluded.

The Committee on Equality and Non-Discrimination will look into the issue of institutional racism during the preparation of a forthcoming report on “Tackling racism in law-enforcement institutions”.