European governments should end the arbitrary detention of stateless people and introduce procedures so they do not end up locked up in limbo, a civil society alliance with members in 40 countries is urging.
The European Network on Statelessness this week published a report on the use of detention, warning that stateless people are often detained for months and even years, without any real prospect of their cases being resolved.
The situation of stateless people in Malta, according to Aditus Foundation director Neil Falzon is of “serious concern”.
The report is the final publication of a three-year project aimed at understanding the extent and consequences of the detention of stateless people in Europe.
The project included the publication of six country-specific reports. One of them, published towards the end of 2015, was about the situation in Malta.
That report revealed that the widespread use of administrative detention had a severe impact on stateless people. The absence of procedures to identify and recognise statelessness resulted in detention that in many cases was not in conformity with Malta’s human rights obligations, according to the project.
Aditus Foundation is an active member of ENS, and when contacted, Dr Falzon said that stateless people have no legal identity and are therefore unable to do the most basic of things: study, work, open bank accounts, get married and obtain healthcare among others.
“At times they are arrested and detained under the pretence of removal procedures, despite the fact that there is absolutely nowhere Malta can return them,” he said.
Dr Falzon noted that although the number of stateless people in Malta was quite small, their situations remained of “serious concern”.
“We urge Malta to follow up the interest expressed by Minister Carmelo Abela some months ago in ratifying the UN 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons. This would enable Malta to identify stateless people and ensure effective protection of their fundamental human rights.”
ENS’ report is recommending, among others, the provision community-based alternatives to detention in line with international best practices.
Meanwhile, nationality laws should also provide a facilitated route to naturalisation for stateless people.
'At times they are arrested and detained under the pretence of removal procedures, despite the fact that there is absolutely nowhere Malta can return them:' Neil Falzon.From the Malta report:
• ‘You feel like a baby in detention, not in the sense that you are cared for, but in the sense of the total deprivation of anything that makes you a man. We did not even have clothes other than what we were wearing when we arrived and two boxer shorts. To wash these clothes, you had to shower in them’ – Kafil, from Myanmar.
• ‘I begged the policewoman to leave my pictures with me, the only pictures I had from my mother. I tried to explain that to her but she looked me in the eye, and tore the pictures in such small pieces that I will never be able to stick them together’ – Tsegey, from Ethiopia.
Case studies:
• ‘The documents I have say I’m of unknown nationality. Officially I still don’t exist.’
• ‘Detention made my mental health worse. It started when I got into detention. There they do not care if you cry.’
• ‘Immigration detention is far, far worse than prison because there is no time limit’.