Aditus is highlighting the vulnerability of minors to human rights violations such as trafficking, child prostitution and slave labour. Photo: Darrin Zammit LupiAditus is highlighting the vulnerability of minors to human rights violations such as trafficking, child prostitution and slave labour. Photo: Darrin Zammit Lupi

As many as two migrant minors go missing permanently from the open centres every week, according to a report by human rights NGO Aditus.

“Aditus is concerned about the high numbers of minors who go missing from the open centres, some permanently. In this regard, Aditus would like to highlight the vulnerability of minors to human rights violations such as trafficking, child prostitution, slave labour, etc.

“Procedures should be established to ensure proper monitoring of unaccompanied minor asylum-seekers in the open centres and to ensure they do not go missing locally or overseas,” it said.

The NGO yesterday published two reports focusing on the rights and needs of this vulnerable group. They delve into how Malta’s laws and policies conform to international human rights obligations.

The Child Protection Bill, which is before Parliament, almost entirely ignores the specific rights and needs of unaccompanied refugee children, the NGO stated.

Important elements such as age assessment procedures, the asylum interview, detention, family tracing and reunification and long-term integration struggled to find a place in the Bill, it said.

Unaccompanied minor asylum seekers make up a significant percentage of asylum-seekers in Malta, with about 26 per cent of boat arrivals in the first five months of 2014 being unaccompanied children. All irregular immigrants, including unaccompanied children, are subject to a policy of mandatory detention.

For many Somali children, all they knew at home was war

In March, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat had stated that children should no longer be kept in detention centres here, “although it is unclear when and how this commitment will be applied in practice”, the report noted.

Unaccompanied children can only be released after the age assessment procedure (which verifies how old they really are) is concluded, a process which, following changes earlier this year, typically takes 10 days. A care order is then issued by the Ministry of Social Solidarity and the children are transferred to an open centre, where they are assigned a legal guardian and the asylum procedure resumes.

Aditus strongly criticised the manner in which the Bill was speedily presented to Parliament without any in-depth consultation with key governmental and non-governmental stakeholders. Director Neil Falzon said the last consultation meeting occurred right before (former social solidarity minister) Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca was nominated President.

“The Bill and a report were then abruptly tabled in Parliament. We never saw a draft copy of the Bill before it appeared in Parliament. Such a Bill should have been preceded by an inclusive discussion process.”

The proposed law expressly mainstreamed unaccompanied children into the general out-of-home care system for other minors and the asylum context was not fully taken into account in the design of certain procedures. Its timelines could lead to excessive – and illegal – detention of children, the report said.

It allows for a delay of 30 days between the referral of unaccompanied children to the child protection services and the application for a care order. Furthermore, the provisions do not set a time limit within which the court must issue the care order, which could result in still further delays. This also affects the timing of when the minor will be given a guardian.

Malta also put in little effort in tracing the child’s family as soon as possible and reuniting him/her with them. The Child Protection Bill contained no provisions detailing time frames and who was responsible for tracing activities. Not enough attention was being placed on a child’s long-term prospects, Dr Falzon said.

“For many Somali children, all they knew at home was war. Yet, when they come to Malta, we expect them to sit for their O levels and to learn Maltese. What are the long-term integration prospects of these children?”

The Bill also does not mention specific asylum-related training. “The area of unaccompanied migrant children is very specialised and, therefore, people involved in their well-being should receive specialised and targeted training,” Dr Falzon said.

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