Amnesty – Malta failed to provide protection to Somali boat people

In its country report for 2011, appearing in Amnesty’s annual report, the international human rights organisation said migrants and asylum seekers were routinely detained, and remedies to challenge rejections of asylum claims remained flawed. It also said that abortion was still illegal in all cases.

“The authorities failed to provide international protection to people rescued at sea, in breach of their obligation not to return individuals to a country where they are at risk of torture or other ill-treatment. The authorities also failed to ensure access to a fair and satisfactory asylum procedure,” Amnesty said.

Amnesty International delegates visited Malta in September 2010.

The organisation referred to an incident reported in MaltaToday on 17 July, when 55 Somali nationals travelling from Libya were intercepted at sea by a Maltese military vessel. Twenty-eight were allowed on board, transferred to Malta and eventually granted asylum; the remaining 27 boarded another ship, believing they would be taken to Italy, but were returned to Libya.

“They were reportedly detained for days or weeks without access to asylum procedures and remained at risk of being returned to Somalia where they could face persecution. All of the males were reportedly beaten with batons, and some were tortured with electric shocks during interrogation,” Amnesty said.

The organisation also noted that Malta maintained its system of mandatory detention of all asylum-seekers, refugees and migrants entering the island unlawfully.

Amnesty reiterated that the Louled Massoud v. Malta case in the European Court of Human Rights had found Malta in breach of the right to liberty, as domestic law did not provide the applicant with an effective and speedy remedy for challenging the lawfulness of his detention.

In January, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention issued a report on Malta following its 2009 visit, reiterating its criticism of the mandatory detention regime for irregular migrants and asylum-seekers, the lack of a clearly defined time limit for detention under Maltese law and of genuine and effective judicial remedies to challenge the detention.

“Concerns remained about the right of rejected asylum-seekers to appeal effectively against adverse decisions, due to the lack of independence of the Refugee Appeals Board, the limited expertise of its members, and the fact that its sessions were held behind closed doors,” Amnesty said.

“Conditions in detention and in open centres – and support to vulnerable groups including people with mental illness – remained poor, despite the authorities’ commitment to improve living conditions and recruit more social workers.”

Amnesty also said that in November, the CEDAW Committee adopted its Concluding Observations on Malta, criticising the complete ban on and the criminalisation of abortion, urging Malta to introduce exceptions for cases of therapeutic abortion and when pregnancy is the result of rape or incest. The Committee also expressed concern at the prevalence of violence against women.