Malta needs to “urgently” step up its preparation to receive an increase in migrants and asylum seekers crossing the Mediterranean after the end of the Italian Mare Nostrum operation, according to a United Nations human rights expert.
The absence of Italy’s initiative to save lives at sea, Mare Nostrum, was expected to result in an increase of migrants and asylum seekers landing in Malta in the coming months, peaking around May to July next year.
“Programmes must be developed in building capacity to welcome and process adequately high numbers of migrants with a long term vision to deal with providing immediate assistance, offering legal safeguards and integration programmes for migrants and asylum seekers that arrive regularly,” Françios Crépeau said while calling on the EU to support Malta’s efforts.
He commended the number of initiatives in the pipeline to improve the reception and integration of migrants and asylum seekers. Yet the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights said that if efforts were not stepped up to handle a larger influx, the country would have to cope in “panic and chaos” mode.
During his five-day visit in Malta, he called on the government to stop the policy of mandatory detention of migrants and asylum seekers. He said “people should be free” and detention should be used only as a last resort. This would also reduce costs, the UN rights expert said.
“Mandatory detention serves to inspire fear and distrust in the relationship between migrants, asylum seekers and the Maltese population. This climate of fear goes on to define the policies and programmes of the authorities,” Mr Crépeau said.
He was critical of the “dominant nationalist populist discourse” that portrays migrants and asylum seekers as a threat, saying these were “fantasies” which were then used in political discourse because it helped elections. Yet social science has proven the opposite, Mr Crépeau said.
His visit to Malta was a follow-up to his 2012 year-long study on the management of external borders of the EU. He also visited Italy prior to his arrival in Malta.
He met a range of government officials responsible for border management, EU institutions in the country, international organisations and migrants.