Families with children had to be moved into Ħal Far because venues where they were normally accommodated were at full capacity, the Times of Malta has learned.

A Home Affairs Ministry spokeswoman said the families were living in a small compound separated by a boundary wall from the section reserved for people without families.

Floodlights were also installed for extra security at night.

“This situation is temporary and they will be moved out as soon as accommodation is available in the centres for families,” she continued.

A spokesman for NGO Lifeline who visited the place insisted the area was not “designed to support family units”.

Times of Malta reported that a number of women were temporarily moved to the Ħal Far centre over the past few weeks due to lack of space at Dar il-Liedna, in Fgura. Unaccompanied minors were now being prioritised there, the spokeswoman said.

No contingency plans for severe overcrowding

Sources who work closely with migrants have been raising the alarm fearing there seemed to be no contingency plans for situations of severe overcrowding.

Senior government sources told The Sunday Times of Malta last year an internal review of the situation indicated that the island could receive and process a group of no more than 180 migrants at a time.

Read: Malta ‘unprepared’ for influx of migrants, OPM sources concede

The total reception capacity of the centres stands at about 2,200, according to an asylum information database. At the end of 2017, a total of 913 individuals were accommodated in open centres, the Agency for the Welfare of Asylum Seekers said.

Volunteers have quoted migrants saying they were experiencing “freezing” temperatures and lacked warm clothing at Ħal Far open centre.

Asked about what was being done to help the migrants living there, a spokeswoman said AWAS distributed material items, including blankets and warm clothing on a regular basis. Families were also given food and water on a daily basis.