Home Affairs Minister Carmelo Abela yesterday announced the imminent publication of a draft immigration policy for public consultation.
Winding up the debate in second reading of the Refugees Amendment Bill, Mr Abela said the concept of detention had to change in line with EU policy and European Court decisions.
The concept of reception will also be introduced
Mr Abela said that, last year, the EU wanted to know why the 2011 directive on immigration, on which both sides of the House agree, was not yet enacted. The government said last June that the Bill was in the process of being discussed. Malta had never considered not adhering to the directive.
He said the report on the detention facilities seemed to have come as a surprise, even to some NGOs. The previous administration had not been enthusiastic to complete a holistic report on a national detention policy for immigration. The report would be finalised in a few weeks in draft form and would be available for public consultation.
Mr Abela said a prime concern was the potential of Ebola contagion from migrants. The health authorities were monitoring the issue closely and a 21-day quarantine was being imposed.
Francis Zammit Dimech (PN) said the previous administration had drawn the attention of the Council of Europe to the “disproportionate burden” Malta was carrying due to the number of refugees it received. It had asked for more solidarity in the form of more funds. He asked if Malta had received any new benefits since.
He said it was not EU membership that obliged Malta to offer protection to refugees but the international treaties to which the island was a signatory. The EU directive on immigration placed special emphasis on unaccompanied minors, rightly asking for their refugee status to be processed more quickly.
He asked whether procedures were being sped up to distinguish between those who genuinely qualified for international protection because they were fleeing persecution and war and those who did not qualify as refugees. The directive provided that if someone was suspected to be involved in terrorist activity, then the State giving him shelter had the right to protect its own interests.
The national detention policy review had long been prepared. Were there any timelines to discuss and implement the policy? A refugee escaping war did not deserve to end up for long periods in a detention camp with only the bare necessities.
Nationalist MP Robert Arrigo also contributed to the debate.