Human rights czar - Hal-Far hangar for asylum seekers ‘seriously sub-standard’

“Many migrants in Malta face inadequate living conditions and have little chance of integrating durably in society,” the Council of Europe’s Commissioner for Human Rights, Thomas Hammarberg, releasing today his report on the visit to Malta he carried out from 23-25 March 2011.

The report was released last week by the Justice and Home Affairs ministry.

According to the Commissioner, Malta should establish a human-rights compliant system of reception and integration of migrants.

“European solidarity is key to this endeavour… this means more avenues enabling migrants to move to other countries, but also financial and other assistance to improve the material conditions, asylum determination procedures and integration opportunities in Malta. This is even more urgent today, as Malta has seen new arrivals of migrants from Libya since the end of March”.

The Commissioner also said Malta’s mandatory detention for arriving migrants, including asylum-seekers, was “irreconcilable with human rights standards”. He called on the Maltese authorities to implement alternatives to detention and to make effective remedies to challenge detention available to migrants.

He said the situation in the Hal-Far tent village was inadequate even for short periods of time and recommends its closure. Material conditions in the Hangar Open Centre in Hal-Far, which has re-opened since the Commissioner’s visit and following new arrivals from Libya, are also reported to be seriously sub-standard.

“This is a very serious concern especially as vulnerable individuals, including very small children are accommodated there,” Hammarberg said.

He reminded authorities that vulnerable groups of migrant people, such as families with children, unaccompanied minors, pregnant women, elderly persons and persons with disabilities are entitled to special protection. “They may be detained only as a measure of last resort, not as a rule. Adequate care should always be provided to them. Therefore their accommodation in big open centres including those in Hal-Far and Marsa, must be avoided.”

Hammarberg praised the Maltese authorities’ long-standing efforts to rescue irregular migrants at sea and encouraged them to keep the country’s borders open for people in need of international protection, including those who are forced to flee from North Africa.

He also welcomed progress made in several aspects of the asylum system in recent years in Malta, such as the shortening of the time needed to process asylum applications, improved provision of information to asylum seekers, and the increased rate of recognition of refugee status.

However, further progress was necessary in law and practice concerning asylum proceedings. “The Maltese authorities should provide access to legal aid, and improve access to case files for asylum seekers and their representatives in first instance proceedings before the Refugee Commissioner. Furthermore, second instance proceedings must be made an effective tool for review.”

The Commissioner said he was also concerned by the fact that beneficiaries of subsidiary protection are being socially excluded because financial support for migrants is dependent on residence in the open centres. “All beneficiaries of international protection should benefit from financial support and social assistance.”