The government is pledging to introduce “alternatives to detention” by July in what appears to be a shift with official policy on immigration.
The pledge was made by incoming Home Affairs Minister Carmelo Abela yesterday when replying to questions by Times of Malta.
He also said that today he would be restarting the dialogue with human rights NGOs (which had been halted by his predecessor).
“I intend to keep an open channel of communication with NGOs so that they remain informed on the advances in the area as well as listen to recommendations on improvements, and criticism, which they will have from time to time,” he said.
The former Labour whip took over the hot seat from Manuel Mallia who was forced to resign last week over the shooting incident involving his security driver, Paul Sheehan.
Mr Abela’s comments come after the Prime Minister on Sunday promised a review of the “failed” detention policy.
Asked whether he acknowledged that the policy had failed, Mr Abela said the authorities were assessing their options about the detention policy, taking into account European Court of Human Rights judgments and EU legislation.
“At the same time, the review has to keep in mind the realities of the situation in Malta. The government is still in favour of a detention policy with improved conditions.”
NGOs have been calling for better living conditions, especially in the Safi detention centre, access for a speedy judicial remedy for detainees to challenge the lawfulness of their detention and alternatives to detention.
In Safi, people are still kept in warehouses, which were never meant to host human beings
“This year, we already made improvements on shortening the processing time for asylum applications by increasing the number of boards. There has also been a registered improvement in the age assessment procedure,” he said, noting this was acknowledged by a number of NGOS on World Refugee Day in June.
“A system for challenging the detention order at all stages of the procedure, including a judicial remedy, will be introduced by not later than July 2015.
“Secondly, alternatives to detention will be introduced within the same timeframe. Thirdly, the refurbishment of detention facilities is under way and will continue, including by means of EU funding mechanisms,” Mr Abela said.
The developments come after the government published a damning report of an inquiry into the death of 32-year-old Mamadou Kamara at the hands of detention officials. The report remained unpublished despite being concluded in December 2012.
Former prime minister Lawrence Gonzi had commissioned a review of the detention regime. That process, however, came to a halt when Dr Mallia took over the home affairs portfolio.
When contacted, Katrine Camilleri, from JRS Malta, said a main point of concern for NGOs remained the inadequate physical conditions migrants were being detained in.
“The centres have been refurbished several times, however, they are still far from adequate.
“In Safi, people are still kept in warehouses, which were never meant to host human beings,” she said.
At the moment, there were only 30 people in detention and when centres were crowded, the conditions would be far worse. Detainees also had no opportunities of productive activities and they just spent the whole day waiting.
Dr Camilleri said that a positive change since the summer was the implementation of a provision in the law obliging the principal immigration officer to review the detention of each individual on a regular basis and to order the release of detainees if their incarceration was no longer justified.
In practice, this led to speedier release of some migrants.
“However, there are still changes that need to be made to national law and policy on detention to bring them in line with our human rights obligations.
“One example is the need to ensure that detainees have access to a speedy judicial remedy, to challenge the lawfulness of their detention and another is the need to substantially improve the conditions in detention and detainees’ access to basic services, such as social work,” Dr Camilleri said.
Fellow human rights lawyer Neil Falzon added that the policy itself – the automatic detention of undocumented migrants asking for asylum – had to change.
“A safe alternative would be to keep people within limited freedom of movement while the authorities carry out the necessary health and security checks on each individual, and simultaneously providing useful information and identifying individual needs, including for vulnerable people.
“If, during this period or any other future period, the detention of a person becomes legally justified, then they can be detained,” Dr Falzon, director of Aditus, said.
He said the NGO was looking forward to meeting Mr Abela, hoping this would be the beginning of a process of consultation.