Human rights NGOs had every reason to cheer when they saw the back of Manuel Mallia as Home Affairs Minister.

For 22 months, Dr Mallia refused to engage with them to discuss an inconvenient reality which is not going to go away  irregular immigration.

The world is seeing unprecedented numbers of refugees spawned by horrible wars. Italy has stopped its Mare Nostrum mission in the Mediterranean and the EU’s Frontex mission remains flawed.

New minister Carmelo Abela lost no time when he chose to meet humanitarian NGOs in less than a week of being appointed, no mean feat for a minister who has the unenviable job of trying to help fix a broken police force. It is high time the government understands NGOs are not adversaries but partners. Governments come and go, NGOs are knowledge-based entities which stay, providing years of experience in the field.

Mr Abela should start by taking a good look at the National Detention Review report we are unveiling today, which has been pitifully gathering dust since 2012.

The report suggests the setting up of an immigration agency run by a CEO and staffed by specialists in humanitarian fields.

For too long, governments adopted a system which refused to acknowledge that asylum seekers and refugees are vulnerable beings who need utmost care.

Instead, for years, military personnel who lack the required skills have been tasked with caring for vulnerable people in a system which criminalises them in the eyes of the public.

Most soldiers who have been trained in discipline can never understand why migrants are losing their tempers. On the other hand, asylum seekers can never understand why they are cooped up inside a cell when their only ‘crime’ is to escape persecution. Put soldiers and migrants in the same room for months on end and it’s a recipe for mayhem!

Many of the notorious news stories are sadly a result of a system which dehumanises both soldiers and migrants.

We have seen too much unrest inside detention centres, migrants are even being driven to suicide... some have died in suspicious circumstances.

Police and soldiers should be utilised mainly for rescue missions, which should provide reprieve to a corps which is stretched to the limit.

The problem with Dr Mallia was that from the outset he dealt with immigration from a national security perspective. While security filters are essential, you cannot operate a system which punishes the victims. The government has every right to protect its borders but it is also duty bound to abide by human rights conventions it signed up to.

Let’s remember one essential statistic  80 per cent of those who arrived by boat to Malta in the last year obtained some form of protection. In other words they were fleeing war and persecution.

We cannot say everything is wrong. The detention period has been cut down and the Prime Minister has thankfully toned down his migration rhetoric.

But we are still in a situation where the two main parties have lacked the political courage to question whether detention should be mandatory. Nobody is questioning the need for some kind of migrants’ reception system.

But setting up a new immigration entity would be a start and it needs to be done fast if we are to avoid a repetition of the usual emergency interventions which have often resulted in humanitarian and diplomatic disasters.

The new Home Affairs Minister will find our support if he engages in constructive dialogue and solutions with NGOs and speaks a language of compassion where asylum seekers are concerned.

Let’s hope the other Cabinet members will now give him the support he needs.