The European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) has criticised Malta for its detention policy with regard to irregular migrants, saying it affected their rights and fuels racism among the public.
In its reply to this third report on Malta, the government said the ECRI, which was established by the Council of Europe as an independent human rights monitoring body specialised in racism and intolerance, had not fully appreciated the scale of the crisis faced by Malta in this regard.
ECRI said that since the publication of its second report on Malta in July 2002, progress has been made in a number of the fields highlighted in that report. However, it said a number of recommendations made in its second report have not been implemented, or have only been partially implemented.
"In response to this phenomenon (of migration movements), the Maltese authorities have implemented a policy of systematic detention of all migrants, with negative consequences not only on the respect of the rights of the persons concerned but also on the perception of these people as criminals and the levels of racism and xenophobia among the general population.
"These perceptions have been sustained by a public and notably political debate around irregular immigration in which human rights and human dignity have generally not been in focus.
"Irregular immigration has also provided the platform for the development of organised right-wing extremist groups. Irregular migrants, asylum seekers, people with humanitarian protection and refugees remain vulnerable to racial discrimination in accessing different services and to exploitation on the labour market, where they are predominantly employed illegally," it said.
The commission commented about Malta's perception of itself exclusively as a transit country for immigration. This, it said, had "negatively affected the Maltese authorities' ability to devise integration measures for people who may end up staying for long periods of time in the country".
But the government rebutted saying that according to international law, especially now that Malta formed part of the Schengen zone, it had the right to determine which foreign nationals may enter and remain on its territory and return those it refuses to their countries of nationality.
The government said it failed to understand why the commission did not recommend stronger border controls and made no reference to the option of the repatriation of irregular migrants.
"Whilst Malta is fully committed to offer all possible protection and support to all those who are deemed to be in need of such assistance, at the same time it is determined to send back all those whose application for asylum is not accepted."
The government said it was also concerned that the ECRI report "seemed to be quite lukewarm" in supporting the burden-sharing concept especially by the European countries.
With regard to the detention centres, the government said that maintenance at the centres is carried out on an ongoing basis, but sometimes vandalism and lack of interest shown by a minority of the immigrants contribute towards the degradation of physical conditions.
Moreover, a medical team provides services at each centre five times a week and detainees have access to regional health centres and hospital on the same basis as Maltese nationals.
The Board of Visitors for Persons in Detention also monitored detention centres and investigated any claims of maltreatment made by immigrants.
The government said it was disappointed that ECRI showed disregard for Malta's vital national interest and the will of the people. In its report, ECRI made a number of recommendations such as a commitment to a process aimed at identifying non-custodial alternatives for reception of irregular migrants, the improvement of conditions of detention and the provision of learning opportunities.
It also recommended that the Maltese authorities promote a more balanced debate on immigration that reflects the human rights dimension of this phenomenon as well as improve the implementation of the provisions in force against racism and racial discrimination through training and awareness-raising measures for the judges and police and potential victims of discrimination.