Conditions in Malta’s detention centres remained poor and were exacerbated by overcrowding, with hundreds experiencing lack of privacy, insufficient access to sanitary and washing facilities, and poor recreation and leisure facilities, Amnesty International said in its annual report for this year.

The organisation said that there were consistent and credible reports that being detained in such conditions was adversely affecting the mental health of migrants.

It said that conditions in open centres for refugees and migrants released from detention also remained inadequate.

Amnesty noted that the number of people who arrived in Malta by sea increased by 28 per cent - from 1,577 to 2,023 in the previous year.

The government continued to automatically detain undocumented migrants, often for up to 18 months, in breach of Malta’s international human rights obligations. Unaccompanied children whose age was in question were also reportedly detained, it said, adding that age determination procedures continued to be inadequate and lengthy.

Amnesty said that appeal procedures in Malta to challenge the length and legitimacy of detention and to challenge decisions to reject asylum claims did not meet international human rights standards and migrants remained exposed to the risk of arbitrary detention.